Crossing the Universe
by BrightCat135
Summary: The protective magical barriers around the dragon world and Avalar have been broken, and now the magic is leaking out. Dark plots for revenge arise as Spyro and his friends race to close the barriers and save the 2 planets.
1. Prologe

Crossing the Universe

By brightcat135

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original characters such as Spyro, Flame, Ember, Elora, etc. They are copyrighted to their respective owners.**

Prologue

Fluffy clouds drifted lazily through the star lit sky occasionally blotting out the moon's silver beams of light. Many in the Artisan home-world were sleeping unaware of the dragon standing on a large hill looking down at their little town. The dragon stood upright in a human like way. His dark blue scales glowed faint silver from the moon's light. His horns were smooth and long stretching backward while his spikes were a navy color. The dragon was old with grey eyes and faded black pupils barely visible. The old dragon had a long scruffy grey beard hanging from his chin. The dragon's wings were slightly tattered along the edges with a severe tear in his right wing. The dark blue dragon held a long staff in his right hand with a bronze dragon head on the top.

A young black dragon sat next to the elder his wild yellow eyes eager to get started with his task.

"It's still a little hard to believe that Red had been beaten by that young hero Spyro; he was the best rounded of us since he mastered the power of dark gems as well as ice magic." The dark blue dragon said.

"I won't fail as he did Blizzard." The young dragon said.

"I expect you won't." said the elder dragon. He turned and walked down the side of the hill leaving the young black dragon behind.

"I won't fail." said the black dragon to him self before he got up and walked away.

The sun was high in the sky over the land known as the Dragon Junkyard. It was filled with disused factories and buildings along with abandoned ship docks and warehouses. This land was taken over by Gnasty Gnorc, a villain who turned the entire population of the Dragon Realms, except for Spyro, into green statues. Spyro defeated the gnorc some years back returning all back to normal again.

The young black dragon flew through the air scanning the land below him. Now that it was day the dragon's features could be seen clearly now. The dragon was a quadruped with slightly short legs and large head. His snout was slightly pointed but short and his eyes were an intense wild yellow with orange around the pupils. His horns were spiraled and curved slightly like devil horns only larger. The dragon's underside was a rusty orange-yellow and his wings were blue. The spikes running down the young dragon's back were a deep indigo blue along with his sharp tail spike and short crest on his head. The dragon's name was Shadow and though he was young he could wield dark magic.

Shadow glided down to a disused warehouse where one of his gnorcs lived. Shadow didn't control all of the gnorcs the way Gnasty did, he just used a few. All the other gnorcs that still inhabited the Dragon Junkyard were his targets to practice his dark magic on. A short round green creature slowly hopped his way out of the warehouse to greet his master who landed in front of the building. The creature looked very much like an orc only with a gnome's attitude hence the name gnorc. Gnorcs spoke in a language of grunts and growls not really understood by anyone that wasn't a gnorc. Shadow fixed that with a spell he placed on the gnorc so that it could speak the universal language (English to humans).

"You're back soon." The gnorc said to Shadow. "How did your meeting with your mentor go?" Shadow gave a short sigh before glancing around idly a bit.

"Nothing new really, he just wants me to do a task for him… a big task."

"…Really?" The gnorc said looking up a Shadow.

"Yep and I'm going to need your help with this one." Without warning Shadow turned and slashed the gnorc with claws that glowed with dark-light. The little green creature fell backward screeching in pain as dark-light spread from the slash wound. The gnorc's eyes grew wide with fear as the dark-light began to encase him. Shadow watched with a small smirk as the gnorc was consumed by the dark-light and begin to grow in size. The gnorc grunted and growled in pain as his body grew rapidly in size turning him into a large muscle bound creature, but he still had a round belly. The now gigantic gnorc sat on the ground gasping for breath as the dark-light faded from his body. It took him a moment to realize why Shadow was so small all of a sudden.

"W-what did you do to me?" The gnorc's deep gravely tone shook with fear as he tried to regain his bearings.

"Well I made you a lot bigger and a lot stronger than you were. Come, we have to get you your armor." Shadow said as he turned to walk away. The gnorc stood up and saw that Shadow was just a little shorter than his shin, but he still held the fearful respect for the small dragon. The big gnorc followed Shadow obediently through forest.

Dawn was just breaking in the Cloud Temples city. The city floated on a large island high above Avalar, the planet next to the Dragon Realms. Cloud Temples was just one of the many lands accessed by portals that branched from the main land (or home-world as it's called by everyone) Winter Tundra, in the far north.

Cloud Temples was about to get a serious wakeup call; Shadow and his gnorc who now sported chain mail armor with a brown chest plate and spiked helmet teleported to the land appearing in a twist of dark-light. Shadow looked out at the city of red buildings and temples that resembled something China from with curved roofs and lots of bonsai trees.

Shadow really didn't need an army to take this city over; it really wasn't that big to begin with, but with what he had in mind he would need guards and soldiers for the gnorc to command. Shadow began his march towards the still sleeping city his eyes wild with excitement. Shadow's body began to glow with dark-light as he walked and his eyes began to blaze white. Pools of black shadows began to form around the young dragon. Soon at least fifty pools appeared while Shadow continued his march toward the city. Within the pools a pair of red eyes formed and slowly a draconic head sporting a single pair of horns and pointed snout rose from the black shadow pools as if lifted by a steady chain followed by a gnorc-like body and at last clawed feet attached to sturdy legs. The creatures continued to rise a few inches off the ground until the inky pools of black disappeared. The creatures seemed to be made from the shadows themselves; they didn't have any highlights making it hard to tell when the creature's arms were bunched up or if it had arms at all. The only other color on the creatures besides the red of their eyes was the silvery white of their talons and teeth. The legion of creatures followed Shadow into the city to fight.

A guard that sat at the city gates was dozing in the small tower on top of the large stone wall that encased the city. He opened his eyes to the sound of dozens marching toward the gate. The guard was a humanoid creature with pale white skin standing about four feet tall or so. He had a round head with small ears and no nose with a wide mouth. The guard had standard armor with steel plates and chain mail. He had a short sword attached to his side as well as a magic wand. The Cloud Temples people were magicians of various sorts. The militia was skilled with offensive magic and spells.

The young guard got up from his chair to look over the edge to see the mass of shadow creatures thundering toward the city. His eyes grew wide at the sight and fear pulsed through him. A shadow creature looked up and saw the guard in the tower and leapt into the air disappearing. The guard turned to run and ring the warning bell but he was stopped short as a shadow creature materialized in front of him. With a surprised yelp the guard tripped backward. His blood turned to ice as he saw the creature raise a clawed hand to strike. He regained some wit and drew his wand and cast a fast fire spell hoping to get the creature off him but the fire just passed through the creature as if it were made from air. The shadow beast slashed down claws shredding through the guards armor. A pained cry was drowned out by the stampeding shadow beasts charging into the city climbing over the stone gate, their claws leaving deep furrows in the rock. Shadow's gnorc burst through the stone gate with a shoulder charge. Shadow was the last to enter the city. Soon the once quiet city was alive with the surprised and scared screams of the inhabitants.

This was only the start though; things would get much worse from here. Within hours the city was captured and overrun by creatures that seemed invulnerable. Though some were killed most of the Cloud Temples people were placed in city's main temple in the second floor of the basement. They were all striped of their wands which were their main source of power and thrown into the makeshift dungeon.

"Pathetic." Shadow spat with disgust.

"They were too soft, that's why it was easy to beat them Master Shadow." The gnorc said as he looked at the empty city. Shadow snorted before teleporting to the top of the main temple. He could see the entire city and the edges of the island from where he stood.

"Now for the final part…" Shadow said as he dug his claws firmly into the roof to steady himself for the major spell he was going to cast. The black dragon took a steady breath before his body was slowly circled by dark-light. The dark-light swirled around the dragon faster and faster until it seemed that he was in the center of a tornado. Waves of negative energy radiated outwards in powerful blasts that shattered windows and cracked stone. It was hard to bear but the gnorc stood his ground with his arms up in an attempt to shield him self from the blasts. Shadow's eyes blazed an intense white again as he let the dark magic flow through his body. His gaze turned upward toward the sky before releasing a powerful beam of dark-light at the sky. His target was the magical barrier the surrounded the planet. The beam of dark-light smashed into the barrier puncturing through with a loud noised like breaking glass and crackling electric that was almost deafening. Shadow paid no heed to the loud noise. He directed the beam slowly moving it downward like a knife through a loaf of bread. The barrier seemed to scream as its inner workings of magic were severed and broken. While normally invisible the barrier around the giant gash became visible. It looked like a thick net of lightning woven together with magic creating the shield around the planet. It was tinged a dark purple color because of the negative energy from the dark-light beam.

At last the powerful beam faded slowly shrinking until it was gone. The dark-light around Shadow slowly faded as well leaving and exhausted dragon standing on the roof of the temple. The muscles in Shadow's body tensed suddenly then relaxed causing Shadow to stumble trying not to collapse. His mind was torn from the excessive amount of dark magic that was used.

The physical affects only included exhaustion when a large dark magic spell was used. One would even change color if the user is exposed to small amounts of dark magic over years of time. The mental damage was much greater when the user preformed a large spell they weren't ready to do. They could lose a part of themselves, and in severe cases revert back to a primal being in mind with nothing but basic survival instincts.

Shadow stumbled over the edge of the roof his senses numbed. He didn't even know that he was falling. His blank eyes watched the rush of ground come at him and then a sudden blur of green as his gnorc caught him in his large hands. Shadow lay there completely limp and unresponsive. Someone would have mistaken him for being dead if it wasn't for his rough breathing.

It didn't take that long for Shadow to recover from the dark magic spell. He left the gnorc in charge of guarding the barrier rip from any one that tried to close it. He also left around twenty shadow creatures from him to command. Shadow had teleported himself back to his warehouse in the Dragon Junkyard, but before he left Avalar he cast one more spell though it wasn't as dangerous as the last one. He connected the Dragon Realms and Avalar together with a small thread of magic. It was to make transportation between worlds easier. It was also large enough to let a small amount of Avalar's magic to slip through to aid in its draining.

Shadow walked around the in front of his warehouse in deep thought.. His mind was still fragile and injured from the spell he used to break the barrier back in Avalar. He wasn't quite the same anymore as his sanity was slipping. He wasn't thinking about what would happen if he cast another large dark magic spell. In reality all he wanted was to please his mentor and the rest of the council that Blizzard was part of. Shadow stopped walking as a dark grin spread across his face. He teleported to the top of his warehouse his eyes blazing white again with dark-light rippling across his body. He would set the final piece of the plan in place; he would break the Dragon Realms barrier.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: A new Friend

A long slender dragon climbed his way up a rocky path on the side of a large mountain. His claws grasped at the loose rock sending it tumbling down the steep path as he let go of them. He was used to climbing up this way to get to his cave, but sometimes he lost his footing. The young Chinese dragon tumbled backward with a gasp. A large snout came down keeping the little dragon from tumbling any farther. The young dragon looked up at his dark green father with a slightly embarrassed look in his blue eyes. It wasn't very often he fell. The light aqua green dragonet righted him self and continued his way up the steep path. The young dragon's branched horns were still small and his paws seemed too big for him. The dragon's underside was a grass green color and he had golden tufts of hair sprouting from his elbows heels and tail tip. He also had the beginnings of a small mane along the underside of his jaw. Two long, thin whiskers grew out from the young Chinese's snout with one on each side. His shoulder spikes hadn't grown in yet; he was the dragon equivalent of a human seven-year-old.

The little dragon's father on the other hand was massive. He was twenty feet tall at least. His horns were long with many branches and his golden mane was long. The older dragon was in his prime. He had found a mate about ten years ago and together they had their first clutch though it was only one egg. Chinese dragons don't breed often and they have few offspring which was one of the reasons they're so rare. The father dragon would protect his son with his life like any parent would do.

Soon the young light green dragon reached the mouth of the large cave. His pupils dilated to see better in the dim light. The father walked into the cave and was greeted by his mate. She was slightly smaller than the male with smaller horns and shorter mane. The female was a light blue color with a deep blue underside.

"I see the hunt didn't go well." She said.

"No. At least that last meal was big." The grownups began idle chit-chat which was boring to the young dragon. He was playfully batting a rock with is tail until a strange jolt of energy coursed though him. The little dragon yelped in surprise causing his parents to turn their heads.

"What's wrong Rali? Did you step on a sharp rock again?" His mother asked with slight concern.

"No it was this... I dunno shock I guess?" The little dragon wasn't sure about what happened and couldn't tell his parents much. Two adult dragons gave their son a puzzled look. When the energy shock came again Rali jumped and his body glowed for a few seconds. His parents were about to rush over to him when the glow came again this time blindingly causing the older dragons to shut their eyes. Rali was encased in a sphere of energy and with a crackling noise the sphere vanished leaving two bewildered parents behind.

"Rali? RALI?!" His mother called franticly, but her son was gone.

Rali didn't know it yet, but he was being transported to another world crossing from his universe to another.

A young purple dragon stepped though the portal to the Sunny Flight speedway. The speedway was a land where young dragons went to learn how to fly. The magic in the speedways was stronger than that of the normal lands allowing for easier flight. The purple dragon was a young teenager around fourteen (give or take a year) in human years. He was still a quadruped not yet ready to walk upright like most adults did though some chose to stay a quadruped throughout their whole lives. His wings were gold with red wing sails and his crest and spikes were a tan-gold color. His tan-brown horns were upright in a slight S shape. His name was Spyro. Even though he was young he was the hero of all. He had saved the Dragon Realms countless times from many villains and saved their neighboring planet Avalar once. Of course Spyro didn't save everyone alone, he had his best friend Sparx the dragonfly by his side. Sparx was a gold dragonfly with two small arms and horizontal, red stripes on his body. Sparx wasn't only Spyro's friend but also a magical shield of sorts. Whenever Spyro took a hard hit instead of getting badly injured Sparx would change colors, gold meant that he was at full strength, blue meant two hits left, green meant one hit left, but with the power of fairy magic Sparx gained an extra hit so Spyro could take four hard blows before his companion would disappear. The butterflies that came from fodder would restore Sparx when he ate them.

Since the Dragon Realms wasn't in any danger (that they knew of) Spyro tried to keep himself busy with beating his course records in speedways. He hoped that he could beat his old record in Sunny Flight. He was hearing about a young red dragon that was setting outrageously fast records in other speedways around the Dragon Realms and Spyro didn't want to be bested. The young purple dragon took a deep breath and glided towards the starting position. Sparx flew over to the time board to keep track of how Spyro did.

Spyro readied himself on the small starting platform carefully eyeing the targets he had to

hit. _Let's see… If I could just swing past those barrel trains at just the right angle then I should be able to shave off at least half a second from my time. _The purple dragon thought as soon as he pushed of the ground with his hind legs. Spyro leapt into the air and spread his small wings to take flight. With accuracy he took shallow turn to face the barrel trains so that they were heading at him face on. Within moments Spyro flew around the small railroad track torching the two barrels at a time that came on the trains. He then flew away from the tracks and made a sharp left to head towards the green glowing arches that circled the rock island the speedway course was built around. He kept as tight a turn around the island as he could without missing the arches. Just as the last arch shattered signifying that it had been passed through Spyro angled off toward the small gnorc planes that flew in a set pattern above the water. He used the same tactic like he did with the trains facing the planes head on. With quick bursts of flame the planes fell to the water in smoking debris. With all eight planes taken care of it was time for the last part of the course. Near where the trains had been there was a somewhat hidden cave inside the rock island with golden, shining treasure chests lined up on small platforms. Spyro flew into the cave torching the three chests that stood in the entrance tunnel to the open roofed cave. The cave itself was small and the bottom was filled with water. Four platforms stuck out the walls of the round cave with chests on them and there was a central rock formation with a chest on it too. Spyro circled the perimeter of the cave blasting the chests with his flame breath before smashing the central one. When the last chest shattered from Spyro's flame blast the timer stopped. Spyro flew out from the cave and back to the small outer island which the time board was on. The dragon landed lightly onto the stone panting from his flight.

"Well?" He asked anxious to know how well he did. He hoped that he beat his old time by at least a second if not more.

"Sorry Spyro but you missed by just a second." Sparx said shaking his golden head. He knew that being the best meant a lot to Spyro now that his speedway reputation was on the line. Spyro sat down still breathing hard. Once he caught his breath a slight frown grew on his face. He looked at the time board with growing frustration. He knew that it wouldn't matter how good he was if he could only go but so fast and right now he was already at his best. The purple dragon sighed. He looked back at the course that was resetting itself for the next run. The trains, arches, planes, and chests faded into sight until they were solid again.

Spyro was just about to turn and leave until something caught his eye. There was a bright flash from the small cave the chests were in; it wasn't normal.

"Did you see that?" Spyro asked his dragonfly friend.

"Yeah I did." Sparx said. Spyro stood up and leapt from the small rock island towards the cave with Sparx following cautiously behind. Spyro flew into the cave and landed on one of the small platforms. Spyro could sense that the magic in the immediate area had become extremely strong, it was almost overwhelming. An orb of light appeared and grew into an immensely bright sphere. Spyro shielded his eyes from the bright light with his wings. When Spyro looked after the light vanished there was a strange green creature sitting on top of the main rock formation. It was long and slender with draconic features. The creature looked around his bright blue eyes wide with fear. Soon the creature's eyes focused on the small purple dragon in front of him. The creature took a step back when Spyro began to approach. Seeing the creature's recoil Spyro stopped where he was and instead tried to talk to it.

"Uh… hi…. My name's Spyro." He said unsure if the creature would understand. The green creature looked at Spyro warily. The little purple dragon didn't seem dangerous, but still….

"Do… you… understand… me?" Spyro asked spacing his words. The creature nodded his head yes.

"What's your name then?" He asked. It took a moment but finally the creature answered.

"I-I'm Ralicamur." He said stuttering with slight fear. He had no idea what was going on or if he would ever see his parents again. Rali got a feeling that a lot was going to happen to him and it would have something to do with that purple thing with the little gold thing in front of him.

"Rali for short…." The young dragon finished.

"Where am I?" Rali asked. His tone was less shaky now that he knew he wasn't in immediate danger. "And what are you?"

"Well number one: you're in the Sunny Flight speedway. Number two: I'm a dragon. What are you?" Spyro said as he glanced at Sparx.

"I'm a dragon too."

"Well you're the strangest looking dragon I've ever seen." Spyro said starting to walk a little closer until he came to the edge of the platform he was on. He then sat down his tail lightly touching the treasure chest behind him.

"I could say the same thing about you. Your wings look strange and your head is big." Spyro growled at the comment though it was kinda true. Sparx snickered with a hand over his mouth trying to hold it in. Spyro glared daggers at the little dragonfly causing Sparx to shut up. Rali cocked his head at the two. Spyro had guessed by now that Rali was young, younger than him possibly by the tone of the green dragon's voice despite the fact that Rali was more than twice as tall as he was. Rali looked around at the glowing chests with fascination as they didn't have those back on Earth. Spyro watched with amusement as Rali investigated the chest by quickly poking it with a fore-claw. He then sniffed at the chest deciding that it didn't do anything else but glow.

"So where're you from Rali?" Spyro asked after a few more moments of watching the light green dragon. Rali turned his head to face Spyro again. Rali's eyes grew sad for a moment when he remembered that he was lost and his parents where no where to be found.

"China." He answered slowly. Spyro cocked his head and raised an eyebrow.

"China? I never heard of that place. Where is it?"

"Umm… somewhere in the eastern part of the Earth connected to Asia I think." This only made Spyro more confused. China? Asia? Earth? Where the heck were those? Spyro didn't even have a foggy idea. All he knew was is that it wasn't in the Dragon Realms.

"Well Rali welcome to the Dragon Realms." Spyro said looking at the green dragon. He knew that he would have to take Rali to the Artisan dragon elder.

"How is Rali going to get to the portal? I don't think he can fly as he doesn't have any wings." Sparx buzzed to the purple dragon. Spyro shrugged his shoulders as he didn't have a clue. Rali overheard the question.

"Actually I can fly, but not very well." Rali said. Spyro gave Rali a look of complete disbelief. First he comes from this strange land called China and he can fly. Can this dragon get any weirder?

"And how do you do that?" Spyro asked.

"You see us Chinese dragons fly by using magic since we don't have any wings." Spyro could understand that. The dragons in the Realms flew partially with magic themselves since their wings were too small to fly under their own power. Spyro stood up and turned around to face the entrance to the cave after telling Rali that he should follow and with a swift leap Spyro was airborne. The green dragon leapt off the central rock formation in the cave to follow Spyro out. He was surprised at how easy it was to fly here and he felt like he was swimming through the air. His tail waved lazily behind him making Rali seem like a serpent gliding through the air. Spyro glided swiftly in front of Rali and then disappeared into the portal in front of him. Rali stopped in mid-air looking at the strange thing. It was a rock arch with many carved symbols on it. The arch had a glowing green gem at the top. In side the arch was a picture of another world like a window. Cautiously Rali stuck a claw into it to find that nothing was going to hurt him. He gave a quick look around the speedway again before gliding into the image.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Threat's Rising

A dragon paced back and forth inside the main chamber of the large Artisan temple. The dragon's brows were furrowed in thought and his claws made a scraping sound as they dragged across the smooth white marble. The dragon was fairly tall and he had a bright yellow front-side. He was of medium build not too muscular and his tail was rather short. His wings were a golden color and the wing-sails were a deep brown-red. The green dragon had golden frills jutting out along the bottom side of his jaw below his ears in sideburns of sorts. He also sported two smaller frills on the underside of his chin that stuck outward.

The green dragon stopped pacing and gave a weary glace around his temple. It was decorated with inlay gems along the molding around the room. There were two dragon statues that stood guard at the doorway to the chamber and there were smaller animal statues that rested on small podiums around the room all made from marble. The ceiling was high supported by tall columns that stood against the wall. Two large brass chandeliers hung from the ceiling down to about half the height of the room.

The dragon himself was one of the Elders that ruled the Dragon Realms. He and four others each stayed in the main home-world of each land governing over their respective lands. Normally they all stayed in their own lands but at times when great threats arrived all of the Elders gathered, and when the danger was on a global scale all the Elders from around the dragon world would gather. This was one of those times. They had picked up on the magic that was slowly draining from their world and they all agreed to gather here in the Artisan temple. They would be arriving soon, within two hours.

The Artisan Elder who went by the name Nestor sat down in one of the chairs stationed at an extremely long oval table. He took a clawed hand and rubbed his face trying to relax but that was almost impossible. He could feel the magic of his land slowly draining away despite the fact that the amount missing was very small. Only the Elders had noticed the change in the world as they are the most sensitive to its changes.

Nestor gazed out one of the rooms large windows at the clouds drifting slowly along outside and gave a sigh. The green Elder jumped slightly at the sound of the two large front doors opening. Nestor looked though the doorway of the main chamber down the hall to the sudden flooding of sunlight that poured through the open door. It was hard to tell who it was at first but telling from the scent that wafted down the straight hall on the outside breeze it was male. Nestor recognized the scent immediately, it was his son. The deep green dragon looked a lot like his father except he didn't have the second pair of frills on his chin and his wing-sails were blue.

The young male dragon walked down the straight hall that branched from the entry room to where his father was.

"What is it Conerr?" Nestor asked.

"The other Elders have arrived." He said. _They're early. _Nestor thought. The lighter green dragon glanced at his son and gave a brief nod in acknowledgement. Conerr stepped away from his father and looked to the open door. Dragons began filling into the temple some holding dragon headed staffs. They were from the Dragon Kingdom. The ones without staffs were from the Dragon Realms. The nine dragons walked down the narrow hall to the main chamber and took their seats. Nestor sat at the head of the table waiting for the others to settle down. Once he was sure everyone was ready he stood from his chair and cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. The Elders looked to Nestor including his son who stood away from the table leaned against a wall.

"As you all know we have gathered here today to discuss a very important issue. I'm sure all of you have sensed it; our magic is draining." The room remained silent except for Conerr's surprised gasp. Though he was an elder-in-training Conerr did not possess the powers that Elders had to help them keep their land safe. Once Nestor passes away Conerr would become the new Elder and would receive his rightful powers through a special ceremony.

"Someone or something has broken the barrier that protects us from outside magic and keeps our magic in. I have also sensed that we are gaining magic as well most likely from Avalar." A slight ripple of murmurs spread through the dragons. Some didn't sense that they were gaining magic as well as some Elders were better at sensing things than others. Nestor was about to say something but Conerr interrupted.

"How could this happen? I thought the barriers were unbreakable." Nestor tensed slightly his dark eyes glancing around the room. Conerr was right, the barriers can't be broken or so they thought. The only way for them to break was if someone knew the patter the barriers had. Throughout different times of the year the planet creates access amounts of magic not dissimilar to solar storms/sun spots. In order to keep the balance of the land the barrier adjusts and becomes weaker in certain spots to allow the magic to pass through harmlessly. It's very difficult to predict when these magic storms will come, but someone must've figured out the irregular pattern.

"Do you think that it could be _them_?" Elder Tomas asked. Tomas was the Elder of the Dragon Village in the Dragon Kingdom. He was a blue dragon with a slightly slimmer build than Nestor. He had a grey beard and red wing-sails.

All of the other Elders turned to Tomas, some gasped. Tomas gulped under everyone's stare.

"But that's impossible! We banished them long ago!" Peace Keeper Elder Titan's booming voice sounded from down towards the end of the table. Elder Titan was a large and muscular dragon. Instead of having scales he was covered in a golden tan hide with brown spots. His chest was a deep brown color and he had maroon frills along the sides of his bottom jaw. Titan also had a distinctive double horn on his snout similar to his crest. Most dragons didn't have the horn save for some Peace Keepers.

"I'm sure that they would like to get their revenge after what happened." Another Elder spoke. It was Beast Maker Elder Bruno this time. He was a rotund dragon with a large snout and large curving horns. His scales were large and a creamy tan color edged with purple. His front-side was also creamy-tan with four purple lines vertically across his front. His wings seemed way too small compared to his body size.

"If they are back then we will have to deal with them, but for now we must focus on fixing the barrier before it's too late. The other Elders agreed with the plan while Conerr stood away from the table rather confused. _Who is 'they'? _He wondered. He would ask his father once the meeting was over.

Meanwhile two young dragons walked down a stone path through the Artisan world with their dragonflies. Both were still quadrupeds. The pink one was female with a tan underside and a short purple crest on her head. Her horns grew out from the sides of her head and they curved backward. The female's eyes were a light blue color and she wore a heart shaped pendant on the end of an orange leather necklace. Her name was Ember

The other dragon was male. He was noticeably larger than his companion and his scales were a crimson red. The dragon's gold crest was large making his horns look small and he had connected spikes running down his back to the arrow shaped spade at the end of his tail. His name was Flame.

They both had moved from the Dragon Realms to the Dragon kingdom with their parents when they both were still hatchlings. You could tell because they didn't have the cat-like ears that the Kingdom dragons had.

"Which way was Spyro's house again?" Flame asked slightly irritated. They had been walking around for far too long trying to find their friend's house along the lush rolling hills of the Artisan world. It didn't help that they stumbled into a small town with houses that looked far too similar to each other.

"Well this place is starting to look familiar." Ember said her tone unsure.

"What do you mean '_starting _to'?" Flame practically yelled causing the smaller pink dragon to flinch. The two got a few odd stares from the random inhabitants in the area.

"Look, I've only been here a couple of times okay?" Ember said not at all happy with the way Flame snapped at her.

"What ever." Flame rolled his eyes and sighed thinking that they were never going to get to their friend's house. He continued to fume slightly until strange gasps and murmurs caught his attention. He tapped Ember on the shoulder to get her attention. They two looked to their left to see everyone staring at a strange green creature. They were too busy looking at the strange thing to realize that Spyro was leading it.

Ember and Flame soon saw their friend and trotted up to him.

"Ember, Flame! What're you guys doing here?" Spyro said glad but a little surprised to see his friends.

"We came to see you." Ember said.

"Who's your new friend?" Flame asked looking up at Rali. Rali tried to keep his head low as if it would keep him from being seen but he was already as tall as most of the adult dragons if not taller.

"His name's Rali, he says he's a Chinese dragon." Flame and Ember glanced at each other before giving Rali and Spyro a confused look.

"We're on our way to the temple." Sparx buzzed.

Spyro knew that he would have to explain things to them but he felt that now wasn't the time. He did have to take Rali to the temple after all as he didn't know what else to do with him.

Flame and Ember decided to tag along with them.

While on their way to the temple Flame and Ember continuously ask Rali questions about where he was from, where he lived, did he stay with his parents and the like. Rali seemed to relax somewhat as he rambled on about his homeland and how pretty it was to see sunrises and sunsets from the mountains. He also explained about all the other Earth dragon species that he knew about. He said that most European dragons weren't very friendly at all and they were quite large. But the wyvern dragon was the largest known on Earth. Some say that it preys on full grown elephants in Africa where they live.

"Real elephants?" Ember asked her bright blue eyes filled with curiosity.

"Yep." Rali said. Rali continued on about Earth dragons until he was interrupted by Sparx's buzz.

"Where here." The little dragonfly told them. Rali looked up at the large building in front of them. It seemed huge! Spyro walked up the stone stairs up to one of the large front doors with Ember and Flame right behind him. Rali stayed where he was still in awe of the building. He never really saw any buildings back on Earth as he lived in a very remote area, plus his parents wouldn't let him go too far from the cave until he was older.

"C'mon Rali or you'll get left out here." Spyro called. Rali hurried up the stairs.

Spyro pushed one of the doors that swung open without a creak. Slowly the four dragons and three dragonflies stepped into the large building slightly wary. Flame closed the door behind them.

"Elder Nestor!" Spyro called. His voice rang throughout the building with a hollow tone. No one answered back.

"That's strange, he's normally here." Spyro said to himself. The group looked forward to the large meeting room on the other side of a slim hall that branched from the entrance room. No one was in there. Spyro decided to look for the Artisan elder so he began to walk off towards another hallway. The purple dragon called the elder's name again but still no one answered his call.

"Maybe he's not in right now." Flame said trotting up until he was next to Spyro. Spyro gave a glance at his friend. Everyone was about to turn back when they heard a voice. It was an aged sounding male voice, it defiantly belonged to the elder but there was another voice as well. It wasn't as deep and younger sounding. It was his son Conerr. The group of young dragons followed the voices down the hall and around a corner until they came to a large room though it wasn't as big as the meeting room. Conerr was leaned up against a wall in his usual fashion and Elder Nestor was sitting at a desk with a pair of glasses on looking over some papers. The room was lined with bookshelves with hundreds of books in them. They were all most likely historical documents of the Artisan world along with information on past Elders.

"Why didn't you tell me about this?" Conerr asked irritation in his tone. "If I'm going to be an Elder then I need to know about these things so I can learn how to deal with them." Nestor sighed knowing his son had a point.

"I can't really come up with a good excuse as to why I didn't tell you other than that I was too preoccupied with what was at hand." Conerr gave a sigh and glanced away from his father to out a window.

"What are you and the other Elders going to do about the barrier break?" Conerr asked looking back at his father.

"Well we have come up with an idea. Since the magic in the land under the barrier tear will be at it's weakest we will need something to power the spell that will close it. We have decided to ask Avalar for their orbs to act as a battery for the spell." Nestor said.

"I'm looking through these documents to see if there is anything that we can use to help keep the magic in while we prepare to close the barrier."

Spyro and his friends remained silent as they listened to the two older dragons talk. Spyro glanced at his friends who wore surprised expressions as they learned that the Dragon Realms was in danger again. Spyro looked back to the two dragons in the study as they continued talking.

"What about those who were banished long ago. Who are they?" Conerr asked. Elder Nestor looked up from his papers trying to remember what happened as some events he forgot though most was still fresh in his mind as if it happened yesterday.

"You have heard of the banished elder Red right?" Nestor asked.

"Yes."

"You see before I was an Elder when Red was young he used to work with the five Elders that founded the Dragon Kingdom. He was learning with them as an Elder in training. Red wasn't too much older than you at the time.

"Their names were Clenten, Genus, Gyra, and Menga. The fifth one disappeared soon after he began his job as an Elder so Red took his spot. The Elders had also mastered elemental magic during their reign and had nicknames based on their element: Blizzard, Inferno, Gale, and Stone respectively. People say that the fifth was the master of dark magic before it was banned. The Elders had all worked hard to make the land for everyone and form an alliance with the dragons that had already settled there. Things stayed very peaceful and quiet for quite a long time. The Elder's minds became corrupt with power over time and they wanted more. They were planning to take over the entire planet and their plan seemed to be flawless."

"Then what happened?" Conner asked.

"It's rumored that someone had listened on one of their meetings and told the Elders here though no one is sure how the info got out. My father along with the other Elders banished them though not without a fight. They were sent to an island in the south where it's very difficult to live as punishment."

"Why wasn't Red banished then?" Conerr asked still wanting the whole picture.

"Well he said that he had nothing to do with their plan and that he didn't know anything about it. I think this was the time that he began experimenting with dark gems. After about ten years he was found guilty of using dark gems and magic and was banished."

"Do you think that he was in on the plan to take over the world?"

"I don't know Conerr, but I think it's likely."

Conerr heard the sound of claws against marble and looked to the doorway to see four young dragons with and their dragonflies looking wide eyed at them.

"How long have you all been standing there?" He demanded. The four dragons flinched as he spoke. Conerr stopped leaning against the wall his intense gaze scanning the young dragons.

"Answer!"

"Uh well long enough to hear about the barrier thing and about the banished elders." Ember said looking at her paws.

"You all better-" Nestor stood up cutting his son off.

"Conerr, it's alright." Nestor began to walk toward to young dragons with a friendly grin.

"Now is there a reason you all came?" He asked. Spyro explained about how he found Rali in the speedway earlier that day. Nestor scratched his chin in thought for a moment as he looked at the Chinese dragon.

"Hmm well this may have something to do with the barrier break. I think that it would be wise if Rali stayed here for a little while until we find a way to send him home." Nestor said. The light aqua green dragon nodded his head in agreement.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Getting the Show on the Road

Dark, ominous storm clouds swirled violently overhead heavy with rain. Lightning was just beginning to streak through the sky as a flash of white formed into a portal. The forest was thick and filled with swamps making the environment constantly humid. The land wasn't very big, in fact it was just a large island which happened to be sitting where two of the major jet streams of the planet met making for violent and damaging weather. How anything could live here was somewhat of a mystery but many animals made their homes here along with four dragons.

A dark blue dragon flew steadily out of the white swirling portal from the Artisan world before turning around and hovering. The dragon held up his staff and the bronze dragon head on top began to glow as the portal vanished into thin air. Clenten lowered his staff and flew down to the thick forest below. The old dragon's muscles complained with slight pain as the dragon's age was rapidly catching up with him. When he was in his prime he could fly on for hours without a sweat but now just a simple trip to the Artisan's with the aid of a portal taxed the old dragon of his energy and endurance.

Clenten flew down through a thin spot in the forest's thick canopy to a wooden platform built around a tree supported that was by wooden stilts. The stilts kept the platform from sinking into the muddy swamp ground below. Five cabins also rested on stilts as well their structure built around the sturdy ancient trees that surrounded them. The five cabins were connected with a small system of wooden platforms and rope bridges leading from one cabin to the next.

The dark blue dragon walked on the wooden platform that gave slightly under his weight until he reached the largest of the five cabins. He pushed the slightly open door allowing him self in. The cabin was only one room with a table in the middle of it along with several chairs. The tree trunk that the cabin was built around served as part of a wall as if the tree had grown into the small structure. A few windows lined the cabin's walls as well as a brick fireplace at the far back chimney extending upward through the roof.

Clenten was greeted with a pair of dark eyes glinting with an inner anger. They eyes belonged to an old Peace Keeper whose body remained strong despite the many years that have passed. The dragon was a dark sand color with dark brown stripes covering his hide in a tiger stripe pattern. His wings were tattered and torn along the edges and a few scars marked the dragon's face; a reminder of his time in the Peace Keeper army.

"Hello to you too..." Clenten said as he made his way to the table trying to get his stern friend to say something. Genus just gave a slight nod of acknowledgement. Genus returned to what he was doing before Clenten had showed; looking out one of the cabin's windows.

"Gyra is still in the seer room." Genus said in a gruff voice after a few moments. Clenten nodded as he sat down relieved that he could finally take a breather.

Silvery eyes stared blankly into the large crystal ball images flooding into the dragoness's mind. She sat in front of the crystal ball with her hands laying on top of the glassy object her head leaning forward a little. Lights and color swirled around inside the sphere as the female dragon read into them. Images of the human world known as Earth flashed into her mind. Cities, towns, farms, forests, mountains, and the many other lands of the world rushed to her though the sphere seemed to mostly focus on the areas where the Earth dragons lived. She could see dozens of them at a time being enveloped by bright glowing spheres and being thrown into her world and Avalar. _It seems that Shadow has torn more than the barrier._ Gyra thought after a while. The dark magic had not only torn through the barriers but through their dimensional plane. Since the one directly above their dimension is Earth's it was only natural for anything that spilled out to drain to their planet. _Hmm… the Earth is trying to balance the magic though it's not doing very well. It's sending its magical creature's to us in an attempt to regain normalcy. The humans don't seem to be affected or even aware of this.._

Put simply the Earth was trying to get rid of all the access magic by sending its dragons through the dimension tear into the Dragon Realms since dragons were magical creatures. The dragons were ridding the stream of magic from the Dragon Realms across the dimensional planes to the Dragon Realms and more were appearing every day. _I hope this doesn't interfere with our plan._

Aside from looking into the human world Gyra had also been keeping an eye on her own world watching the magic levels slowly drain. She also watched as the Elders desperately tried to find a way to close the gap in the barrier around their world before it was too late. Their orb idea was coming along slowly and they were trying to figure out a way to transfer the orbs' magic into what ever they use to close the barrier._ The fools..._ The old dragoness thought with disgust. _They won't be able to stop us no matter what they do_.

And with that Gyra removed her hands from the crystal ball and slowly began to stand. Her legs had cramped up from the hours of scanning and checking she did. When the old dragoness was at a half stand she reached for her walking cane and proceeded to stand fully back cracking. She walked out of the dim cabin out into the darkness of the thundercloud filled world. There was still enough sunlight filtering through the dark clouds to see by but it wasn't much.

Gyra was a sky blue dragon though her scales had faded some with age. She walked slower now and with a cane. The skin around her eyes had become somewhat wrinkled. She didn't have any spikes at all except for the small cream colored crest on her head and her horns were smooth stretching backward instead of up like most dragons.

Gyra was still a graceful flyer though that was partly due to the fact that she had pretty much all control of the air around her. Her powers over the wind weren't quite as strong as they used to be but she could still quite literately blow the house down.

The old dragoness walked across the wooden rope bridges until she reached the central cabin where Genus and Clenten where. She entered quietly and moved over to the table where Clenten was sitting greeted by silence.

"Well?" Clenten finally asked. "…Anything good going on?" Gyra briefly explained about the Earth dragons coming to their world and how Shadow managed to cut through dimensions. How he possessed enough power to do so still remained a mystery to them.

"The Elders are still scrambling to get a plan together though they aren't having much luck." Gyra said glancing around the room with a smirk on her face. The smirk faded to a look of slight worry.

"Shadow's mind is badly damaged though. I don't think he'll ever be the same again. So eager to please he was. Now he's just an animal that knows something's wrong with him." Gyra's voice filled with slight sadness. She felt like sort of a grandmother to the boy. Her fondness for him started when he was training under Clenten in basic magic skills and spells.

"It doesn't matter now, he's done his job and we don't need him anymore. As long as he keeps the barriers from being closed we don't have anything to worry about." Genus said from across the room voice cold and emotionless. _I wish he would just get over what happened. It was quite a while ago. _Clenten thought with mild irritation. Genus was going to get his revenge; he should be at least mildly happy. Gyra did nothing but shake her head slightly.

"One of you has to go and find Menga. We'll need his help too." Genus said after a few moments. Gyra and Clenten both nodded their heads at the Peace Keeper's demand.

"But only after a good nap..." Clenten added before he got up to go to his sleeping quarters in another cabin.

"What're you all gonna do about the barrier? I mean if all the magic is draining out we could all die right?" Flame asked his voice shaking slightly with fear.

"We Elders have everything under control and we have a plan to fix the barrier before anything devastating happens. All we need are some orbs from Avalar to help us." Nestor said trying to reassure the young dragons. Spyro looked thoughtful for a moment before a slight grin spread across his face.

"I'll go and get the orbs for you. I shouldn't take much longer than a few days especially since I know my way around Avalar." He said hoping to go on another adventure even if it was short. Nestor looked at the young purple dragon thinking for a moment.

"I'm not so sure if it's a good idea." He said after a few moments.

"…Why not?" Spyro said disappointed.

"If it turns out that the banished Elders are the ones who broke the barrier then it would be very dangerous. You have no idea what they could have planned."

"I'm not afraid of them. Their just some old coots so senile I bet that they couldn't even remember what day it is. Besides all I'm doing is going to get the orbs from Avalar what's the big deal?" Spyro wasn't just going to go home this time. He was tired of staying around here and he wanted adventure.

"Listen Spyro, you can't underestimate them. They may be old but they are masters of their element. They could easily kill you without a second thought."

"You shouldn't underestimate me Elder Nestor. I know how to take care of myself; I'm not just some hatchling!" Spyro spat before turning in a huff and walking out anger clearly displayed on his face.

"Spyro wait!" Ember said before dashing after the purple dragon. Flame followed soon after but not before apologizing about his friend's behavior. Rali stayed behind looking after the young dragons as they left concern growing inside him. He may have been young but he knew that he should always respect his elders even if they made him mad.

"Should I make sure that he doesn't leave?" Conerr suggested as he slowly made his way to the door of the study.

"No, let him go son. You just go home yourself; I'm sure your mother is getting worried because it's getting late. You know how she is."

"Sure. G'night father…" Conner said as he left. Nestor looked to the Chinese dragon standing next to him before giving a sigh.

"Rali was your name right?"

"Yes sir." The young dragon said in response.

"I think we should give Spyro and his friends something that would help them out."

"That was really uncalled for Spyro disrespecting the Elder like that!" Sparx buzzed angrily into Spyro's face. "You should know better!" Spyro snorted the dragonfly out of his way as he stomped angrily down the dirt road.

"Nestor should have just let me go. If he did I wouldn't have done that so it was his fault." Spyro said smoke slightly billowing from his nostrils.

"Sparx is right you know. Stop being so difficult Spyro. Nestor could be right. We have no idea what those banished Elders are capable of." Flame said walking swiftly until he was next to Spyro.

"We know you're not going to listen to him though, so we're going with you." Ember said. Spyro slowed his pace until he stopped and looked at his friends.

"Alright, alright... So I made a mistake, but you know I'm right. I would be faster at getting the orbs than the Elders." Flame and Ember nodded their heads.

"You aren't leaving though without saying sorry to the Elder though Spyro." Sparx buzzed close to his friend. Spyro groaned as he agreed to apologize to Nestor. Spyro and his friends continued on to get supplies for their trip.

"What exactly are we going to give to Spyro?" Rali questioned as Nestor walked into a small room inside the large Artisan temple. The room had a few cabinets and two small desks inside along with a hanging lamp.

Nestor walked over to the smaller of the two desks and opened one of its drawers revealing a small brown leather bag with a draw string at the top. Nestor picked the small bag up and blew some dust off of it looking at it fondly.

"This is the omni-pocket. It can hold anything and everything and never get heavy. The opening will even stretch to fit nearly any kind of object. I made it myself in a Magic Crafters class I took quite some time ago. Quite a feat I say." Rali looked at the bag inquisitively and gave it a few sniffs drawing in the thing's musty smell. He drew his head back and snorted out some dust.

"If Spyro's going to get the orbs he'll need this to keep them in." Nestor turned and walked swiftly out the room to the entrance of the temple hoping to catch Spyro before he left. The Elder opened one of the doors and let Rali out before closing it again and taking flight off into the night air. Rali's body glowed with a magical aura before he launched himself off the ground following after the Elder.

It was quite a sight looking down at the Artisan town; house windows were glowing with the warm light of a fire or lamp. Street lamps lit the way down roads here and there though some roads remained dark. Rali looked up to see the crescent moon casting its silver rays on the stretching green hills and plains turning them ghostly silver. Rali's eyes grew large trying to take in all the beautiful sights of the Artisan home-world. Nestor's voice snapped him out of his wonder.

"You're slowing down!" He said looking over his shoulder at the Chinese dragon. Rali sped up until he was shoulder to shoulder with the Elder. The two dragons could see a glowing arch off in the distance on the top of a large hill. Elder Nestor lowered with a few down flaps and landed a few dozen feet from the glowing portal. Rali landed heavily next to him to begin the wait for Spyro and his friends.

Under the cover of night three dark forms darted from shadow to shadow hoping to sneak pass any citizen who might question them. The forms were followed by three glowing objects. Moon light reflected off dark indigo eyes as they peered around the corner of a small store making sure no one was coming. Spyro swiftly darted down the street followed by Sparx. He slowed to a stop and motioned with his paw for Flame and Ember to follow their dragonflies hovering close to them.

"It feels wrong sneaking around here like a bunch of thieves at night." Ember complained as she ran along.

"If you want to explain what a bunch of kids are doing running around at night with enough food to last us the week then you can take a nice stroll down the street if you really want to." Flame said glancing back at the pink dragon. Flame had a point.

It was a moment like this that Ember really wished that she was old enough to fly. It would take almost an hour to reach the super-portal that lead to the Summer Forest home-world in Avalar. This was going to be a long run.

Soon the three dragons had reached the outskirts of the town; street and home lights were nothing but dots in the distance. They could slow down now from a run to a jog but they kept up their pace as they made their way over Artisan's rolling hills. At times the dragons would reach the top of a particularly tall hill and glide down from it hoping to retain some energy.

Rali was beginning to drift in and out of sleep as he lay on top of the hill waiting with Nestor. He was beginning to think that Nestor had made a mistake and that Spyro wasn't going to show. The aqua dragon gave a yawn his pearly fangs briefly catching the moons beams. Nestor glanced over at the young dragon laying a few feet away from him.

"Don't worry young friend, he'll show soon enough." Rali nodded his head and closed his eyes though he perked his ears staying alert for any sounds. He heard Nestor shuffling next to him and opened his eyes to see him stand. The older dragon's gaze was fixed on something in the distance. Rali followed Nestor's stare until he saw three forms slowly making their way towards the hill he was on. They were accompanied by the familiar glows of their dragonflies that flew close to their dragons. When they got closer Nestor waved to them.

Spyro looked up at the top of the hill where the portal resided. A stab of fear shot through him when he saw a figure standing at the top looking down at him and his friends. Now he knew his plan was ruined and for a moment thought of turning away and hoping that the dragons on the hill wouldn't follow. Soon he recognized the Elder and Rali and saw Nestor wave to him. His fear of a ruined adventure turned to annoyance and he climbed the hill just waiting to get an earful from the Elder.

"We were beginning to wonder if you would show at all Spyro." Nestor said as the purple dragon reached the top. His face grew to one of disdain and mild annoyance still having not caught on to the fact that Nestor wasn't going to yell at him. Ember and Flame finished the climb up the mildly steep hill under the same impression as Spyro.

"I want you to have this." Nestor said ignoring Spyro's look. The young dragon's face immediately changed when Nestor presented him with the small bag. Ember and Flame were equally surprised.

"What's this?" Spyro asked as he stood up on his hind legs and took the bag from Nestor.

"It's the omni-pocket. Since you're going to get orbs you need to put as many as you can find in it. It won't matter to the bag though. It'll all fit." Nestor said as Spyro placed the bag into his pack. A guilty feeling washed over the young dragon knowing that he jumped to conclusions about the Elder.

"Thanks." Spyro said slowly his eyes refusing to look at the green dragon in front of him. A nudge in his side caused Spyro to look over at Ember who nodded towards the Elder urging Spyro to say something more. He opened his mouth to say he was sorry but Nestor cut him off.

"I know that you didn't mean what you said earlier. I can understand where your frustration came from. Don't shoot your mouth off again like that though." The Elder said with a small grin.

"No go on. You have a job to do." Nestor said urging the trio on.

"Thanks a lot Elder Nestor." Spyro said as he walked towards the portal. Flame nodded his head in acknowledgment as he passed by the Elder while Ember said a quick goodbye.

Rali watched as the three dragons with their dragonfly companions made their way to the portal. A nagging feeling began to eat away at him and uncertainty filled his eyes. His tail twitched for a moment as he thought. Spyro did sort of rescue him from the speedway and he felt that he should repay him somehow. Just as Ember's tail disappeared into the portal Rali rushed passed the Elder and dived head first into the live picture.

A slightly bewildered Nestor stared at the portal for a moment not expecting Rali to join Spyro and his friends. _The more the merrier they always say. _Nestor thought before her turned and leapt into the air and flew home.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Terror of the Night

Four dragons stepped out from the Dragon Realms portal into Autumn Plains. The land was covered with trees whose leaves had turned red and golden hues. This land seemed to be stuck in one season, frozen in time as the trees always held amber colored leaves. Though the leaves constantly fell they were quickly replaced with new ones.

Spyro started off at a steady pace into the forest; he knew his way around quite well since he had been to Autumn Plains before. The others had no choice but to follow him as they would become lost if they didn't. It was Ember and Flame's first time outside the dragon world. The place gave them an eerie feeling making chills go down their spines. Flame looked to Ember to see that she had an unsure look on her face as well. Rali on the other hand didn't seem to notice anything. Spyro didn't seem worried either, he continued on without slowing his pace. Sparx hovered close to his shoulder before speaking.

"Do you sense something? I know I do." The dragonfly said quietly. Spyro's deep indigo eyes glanced over to Sparx for a second.

"Yeah," He replied. "Something's wrong, but I don't know what." Spyro decided to not say anything about it to the others though. He didn't want to worry them, though he didn't know that they already were.

The four dragons walked through the thinning forest until they reached the large structure that was the Autumn Castle. The castle was an open and airy place because none of the windows had glass along the outer halls. It was built almost like a wrap-around porch with portals standing against the walls here and there. Spyro walked up a short set of stairs that lead to the long wrap-around hall. He passed a portal or two before he came to one with the name Fracture Hills. The land inside the portal was dark, its navy sky dotted with stars and a bright glowing moon off to one side.

Spyro slipped into the live picture without a second thought his mind set on seeing Elora. She would know where they kept the orbs. With slight hesitation Ember, Flame, and Rali all followed the purple dragon into the picture off into the night.

Spyro landed with a slight thud onto the moist dewy grass. He heard his friends land softly behind him except for the heavy Rali.

"So why are we here?" Flame asked. Spyro turned his head to look back at him.

"We're going to see Elora." He answered simply.

"Who's that?" Ember asked. Spyro told them that Elora was the faun he met during his adventure here in Avalar. She had often helped him out when he wasn't sure where to go next and sometimes lead him to an orb to collect. Spyro wasn't quite sure where she lived, but he guessed that he should start looking where other fauns stayed.

That strange feeling washed over Spyro and the others again and seemed to settle in their guts. Something was wrong and they knew it. There was also a strange and unfamiliar scent in the air.

"You smell that?" Spyro asked.

"Smell what?" Ember said looking around her tone slightly tinged with worry.

"That weird musty smell," He said. The others definitely smelled it too.

"Yeah I do, why?" Flame asked becoming more uneasy. His eyes darted to the left and right every so often making sure nothing was sneaking up on them.

"It's not supposed to be here." Spyro said his tone serious before he continued on. His statement caused his friends to gulp.

The four dragons and three dragonflies continued to walk across Fracture Hills still on edge. They all kept their eyes peeled and senses alert as they walked. The dragons stopped when they came to a ledge that overlooked lava flows. The ledge dropped down until the ground became rock which was a good thirteen feet. Lava flows slowly bubbled along casting red glows onto the rock around it. Spyro leapt over the edge using his wings to soften his landing.

"You all stay here. I'm going to have a look around." Spyro's friends agreed watching as Spyro and Sparx made their way across the brown stone towards the lava.

Spyro leapt over the cracks that split the stone and the thin lava streams. He looked up to see a long curving rock bride above him not unlike a rollercoaster track only without the steep turns or hills. It seemed to gently snake its way above the cracked red and brown land below supported by stone pillars. The memory of supercharging on the track above flashed into Spyro's mind for a few moments. He would like to do so again but there were more important things at hand. Spyro noticed that the smell of fauns and satyrs were down here around the lava flows as well, and they were reasonably fresh. Briefly he wondered why anyone would be down here as there really wasn't much to see other than lava and rocks. The purple dragon really didn't think much of it until the smell of blood reached his nostrils. It was faint and old, but he could still smell it. His heart began to pound and his instinct told him that this place was dangerous. Spyro knew that; there was lava all over the place, but his senses told him that it wasn't just the lava he had to fear. The purple dragon began to wonder what he was getting all bent out of shape about. There was nothing around, no huge monster or anything.

The smell of fauns became stronger as he neared a cave. The mouth of the cave was small just large enough to where Rali would be able to fit through. It was smooth and round without and stalagmites or stalactites. Though the entrance was small the farther you went in the wider and taller the passage got. It opened out into a large underground chamber with a small pool of water off to one side.

Spyro peered inside his eyes staring into the darkness. There were fauns in there, he could smell them. His sensitive ears strained to hear any sounds; he caught the sound of a hoof against stone and the sound of a few whispers echoing off the stone walls.

"Hello, anyone in there?" He called his voice bouncing against the stone walls ringing with an echo. For a moment no one answered. He heard the whispering become frantic, excited, and scared. From what he could hear there were quite a few fauns and satyrs inside.

"Who's there?" Someone asked his tone shaking a little. It sounded like an older satyr.

"It's me Spyro." The dragon called. The voices grew from whispers into excited chatter. He could make out some words now 'It's Spyro!' 'We're saved!' the voices said. A lamp lit at the far back of the end of the entrance tunnel and began to come closer. Spyro could make out the figure that was holding the lamp as he came near.

"Spyro it's good to see you again." The satyr said. The satyr was old a graying beard and a torn green vest. His slate colored fur looked a bit scraggly and he wore a square pair of glasses.

"You shouldn't be out here Spyro, not with that beast flying about."

"Beast?" Spyro echoed.

"Yes, that thing seems to only come out at night. We've tried to kill it, but it's too strong. C'mon in before it comes back." The satyr said turning to lead Spyro to the large chamber on the inside. Spyro was about to say that he had to go and get his friends be he couldn't get a word out before a screeching roar sounded. Spyro's heart skipped a beat and his stomach churned. Fear washed over him freezing him to the spot, but his mind jump started his body causing him to whirl around and dash from the mouth of the cave. He ran across the warm stone his heart racing, his mind on one thing and one thing only: his friends. He heard their screams and rounded a corner to see them dashing toward him still quite a ways away.

None of them were running fast enough to escape the winged beast, Rali knew that. The monster was closing in on them his glowing red eyes never leaving its prey. The monster was actually a wyvern. The dragon was large with a barrel chest. Its neck was short but muscular. The dragon's snout was slender and pointed and he had small beady red eyes. The wyvern flew with large bat-like wings and had fins growing down its back. The dragon screeched again as it neared Rali and the others.

"Quick, jump on my back!" Rali yelled at the two dragons racing by his side. Ember and Flame glanced at the green dragon like he was nuts, but another roar from behind them caused Flame to jump first. He gave a quick gulp before pushing off the ground with his hind legs. He grabbed around Rali's neck and used his tail to swing the rest of himself onto the Chinese's back. A shout from Ember's dragonfly Kit caused the pink dragon to leap hoping that she would land on Rali's back. She jumped a few inches short landing onto the base of Rali's tail. The green dragon glanced back at the pink dragon.

"I'm slipping!" She yelled franticly. Kit buzzed down and grabbed Ember by her pack and tried to pull her companion back up but the dragonfly was too small. Rali lifted his tail as high as he so could make Ember slide forward. Panting the pink dragon steadied her self and grabbed Flame around his waist.

Once Rali was sure that the two dragons were on he leapt into the air his body becoming incased with glowing magic. Flame and Ember along with their dragonflies watched with amazement as Rali took to the air picking up an extra passenger as he zoomed by.

Spyro barely had time to think as he was being lifted off the ground by strong fore-claws. It took him a moment to realize that Rali had grabbed him and was holding him around his waist. The purple dragon watched as the ground rushed away from him Rali soaring higher into the air.

With gaining speed Rali sailed through the air with seemingly impossible grace making him look like a green banner gently waving in the wind.

"We have to find a place to hide." Flame said as he looked back at the Earth dragon flying after them trying to not look it in the eyes.

"There's a cave up ahead where the fauns are." Spyro said pointing ahead. Rali saw the dark spot imbedded into the stone and began to swoop down but not before telling everyone to hang on tight. Sharply Rali angled down nearly throwing his passengers off his back. Flame's claws dug in around Rali's large scales as if they were handles keeping him from being flung off. Rali winced as the red dragon's claws pushed against his skin. The wyvern had difficulty following Rali's sharp movement but kept as close as he could to his prey.

Rali landed roughly outside the cave's entrance after putting Spyro down. He let Flame and Ember slide off his back to the ground before looking back. The wyvern was almost on them; it had its claws spread wide ready to snatch up any victim that was near. Spyro and his friends rushed into the cave leaving a screeching dragon behind. The wyvern roared with anger and frustration at the fact that it couldn't squeeze into the cave. It landed outside the cave with its wings lightly touching the ground as it touched down. The beast swung its head from side to side and stared deep into the cave after they prey that got away. With one last shriek it took off back into the night seeming to vanish almost as fast as it came.

Inside the cave's entrance tunnel Spyro, Ember, Flame, and Rali sat down panting. Their bodies still shook with fear and their hearts pounded. Spyro had almost forgotten what it felt like to be chased down by a huge beast; though this time he felt real fear. The fear that either him or his friends could have died, it was defiantly worse than battling it out with some evil doer's minion.

"Are you all alright?" Baston, the satyr who greeted Spyro, asked. The four dragons looked to him their eyes still reflecting fear.

"I think we're okay." Spyro finally said in a shaky tone. He hadn't realized that Ember was clinging to him; he was still too panicked to notice.

"What was that thing?" Ember asked looking to the front of the cave. It was until she spoke that Spyro saw her hanging onto his arm. Uneasily he lifted his arm out of her grasp hoping that she wouldn't notice too much.

"It was a wyvern. It was a young one though; they get much bigger." Rali answered. The green dragon's statement made everyone gulp. The thing was already huge.

Rali didn't know how a wyvern could get here as it was a dragon species from Earth. He began to think that he wasn't the only Earth dragon that got transported here.

Once everyone had calmed somewhat Spyro and the others walked through the smooth entrance tunnel out into the large chamber. A few stalagmites grew from the ground as well as stalactites on the ceiling. A few lamps rested on the flat stalagmites giving the cave a dim orangey glow.

Baston shooed away the curious fauns and satyrs that came to greet the new guests. The old satyr motioned to an empty part of the chamber. Spyro and the others could rest there for the night. Baston told them that they could tell everyone why they were here in the morning.

The fauns and satyrs all began to quiet down again after the excitement of Spyro and his friends' arrival. Then all soon returned to their makeshift beds and cots to return to sleep. Spyro laid down on the smooth stone. It was warm from the magma that flowed deep under the rock beneath them. His thoughts continuously returned to the wyvern and his friends being chased by it. He knew that he was going to have to face the beast soon. He was the hero after all. He tried not to think about it and he slowly drifted off to sleep, his mind becoming overwhelmed with the soft darkness of sleep.

The sound of hooves and talking roused Rali from his sleep. He shot up his eyes wide with fear. His mind raced to remember that he wasn't inside his own cave with his parents on the mountain. Once the young dragon realized that he wasn't home he grew sad for a moment but hid it by lying down again and closing his eyes. His eyes opened again to see Flame stand up and stretch like a cat by extending his fore-arms forward his hindquarters in the air. A yawn escaped from the red dragon's jaws.

"Hey Rali, are you awake?" He asked catching the green dragon's open eyes from the corner of his.

"Yeah," He said slowly. Flame walked over to Ember and gently nudged her on the shoulder to get her up. Ember was always a light sleeper so it didn't take much to wake her up. The pink dragon opened her eyes slowly and gave a yawn as well. She sat up and looked over a Rali and then to Spyro. Spyro didn't need anyone to wake him up, he was already sitting up looking around sleepily.

"Well good morning Mister Sunshine." Flame said jokingly. He only earned a growl from the purple dragon and an annoyed look. The four dragons looked as a group of satyrs began to march out of the cave with light armor adorning their bodies. Quivers filled with arrows hung from their backs along with bows. Some had short swords hanging from their sides sheath clinking against their armor as they walked. It looked like they were off to war, but in reality they were just going to get food. They didn't want to leave unarmed just in case the wyvern showed up.

The sound of their hooves against the stone floor echoed faintly as the walked out from the cave. Soon they disappeared from sight out through the curving entrance tunnel.

The cave now was a bit roomier with some of the temporary inhabitants out. It mostly consisted of wives and mothers with their children and the few satyrs that stayed behind to guard them. In the back of the cave there were also the wounded all bandaged up. They were casualties from early battles with the wyvern. Their backs were slashed, teeth marks lined their bodies. And some of the less fortunate ones were missing limbs completely. It was their blood Spyro had smelled earlier.

The purple dragon watched as healers went back and forth between cots checking his or her patients. He knew that he couldn't leave here without taking the wyvern out. That thing could kill them all if it was given enough time.

Baston approached the group of dragons. They looked to the old satyr as he sat down on the warm stone.

"So what brings you to this currently dangerous land?" He asked. Spyro stifled another yawn and began to explain about the broken barrier around his world. Baston listened to Spyro's words as he explained about the possibility of the banished Elders having something to do with the barrier tear.

"We need those orbs as soon as possible. Since Elora was one of the last people to be around them I'm assuming she knows where they're at." The purple dragon said. Baston thought for a moment.

"Ah yes, Elora, the brown faun. I haven't seen her in a few days. She disappeared soon after that monster showed up. I really hope that she's alright." Spyro's hopes seemed to drown as he learned that Elora wasn't accounted for. There wasn't enough time to look for someone else who might know were the orbs were. Spyro also became increasingly worried for his missing friend's safety.

"I'm sorry that I can't help you." Baston said with regret.

"It's alright." Spyro said quietly. The group turned around when they heard hoof steps approaching from behind. An older satyr had walked up to Rali with a stern look. His eyes were a deep grey and a scraggly beard hung from his chin. As scar was cut across his left cheek and one of his horns was cracked. A sheathed sword hung from his side and he wore shoulder armor. This satyr was a veteran warrior who fought in many battles. Now he's the current commander of the dwindling warriors.

"May I ask for your assistance in creating a plan to beat that monster young dragon? You seem to have quite a bit of knowledge about the beast." He asked with a gravely voice. Rali glanced around for a quick moment before nodding his head.

"Yes sir." Rali said quickly.

Day quickly turned to night as the satyr warriors prepared themselves for the upcoming battle. They marched from the cave with their weapons in hand ready for combat. Rali stepped out, his nerves on edge. He hoped that the information he gave to the commander would help them.

Archers were stationed at the top of a large hill near where the lava flows where.

Spyro and the others had agreed to help though it would be their job to help force the wyvern to the ground. Spyro and Flame were up for the challenge but Ember on the other hand wasn't so sure. She decided to stay behind.

"Rali, are you sure this'll work? I mean that thing is pretty big." Spyro said as the three dragons walked along to their position.

"Yep, Wyvern's aren't as dangerous on the ground. Since they don't have any fore-claws they can't swipe and they can't use their hind claws since they have to stand. We still have to be careful though. Their jaws are very powerful and they can still get you with their tails." Slowly Spyro and Flame nodded with a how-did-I-get-myself-into-this look on their faces. They all looked up at the night sky for any sign of the wyvern secretly hoping that it would be late.

Nearly an hour passed before anyone spotted the beast. The signal was given and everyone got into place; the archers tied the last knots on the rope attached to their arrows, short range troops with their swords scuttled away to nearby crevasses and bushes for an ambush.

Rali watched as the dark shape glided through the air fear beginning to wash over him. His heart began to race pupils dilating and shrinking slightly. The young green dragon looked over to his friends. Spyro wore a determined expression while Flame's was unsure. Rali's tail twitched with nervousness as he deeply wished to be home now. He had no idea how to fight monsters. That was his parents' job. It was really the satyrs who came up with this plan, not him. Unconsciously he took a small step closer to Spyro causing the purple dragon to look up at him.

"What's wrong?" Spyro asked. Rali shook his head no saying nothing was wrong with his gesture. Spyro knew he was scared and deep down he was too.

Up above the wyvern screeched sending fear down to everyone below. His red beady eyes scanned the scene below prey in his mental crosshairs. The long green dragon would provide much more food than any of those scrawny satyrs and fauns. With a snort the monstrous dragon began his dive his jaws parting in another roar. The dragon rushed down towards Rali at a seemingly impossible speed.

Rali stood petrified to the spot like a deer in headlights ears pinned back pupils at their smallest. The only movement he made was the slight trembling of fear. Only a shout of his name brought the green dragon back to his senses in time for him to dodge the ivory claws that swung at him. With a shriek Rali rolled away heart in his throat.

The wyvern landed with a heavy thud, his target scrambling away. The dragon roared and proceeded to pursue Rali oblivious to the archers firing roped arrows over its head that were attached to boulders. It also didn't notice the two small dragons racing around his feet roped in their mouths as they ran; Spyro running clockwise and Flame counter clockwise.

The wyvern attempted to step forward only to find his feet entangled with rope. Spyro and Flame let go of the rope as the wyvern struggled to get the rope off to avoid injury. Arrows rained down on the other side of the wyvern ropes draping over the back of the creature. The dragon gave a loud screech in confusion at the strange things binding him. Its head looked to its sides as satyr warriors leapt from their hiding places grabbing at the loose ropes hanging from the wyvern's sides. They weren't heavy enough to keep the thing from opening its wings though they really didn't have to. The dragon tried to step forward but tripped over the ropes binding it feet causing it to tumble to the ground. Unable to get its legs underneath him the wyvern roared with frustration and rage. It thrashed his tail and head trying to shake off the ropes. More satyrs charged in with chains in hand to bind the creature's wings.

Rali stood there looking on as the wyvern struggled to free its self fear still clouding his eyes. The green dragon panted know what he had to do next: muzzle the wyvern. His task was to get a chain around the dragon's jaws to prevent in from biting anyone. Rali winced as the wyvern's thick muscular tail swept some satyrs away crushing them with the impact. The sound of the impact was a sickening crunch as bones snapped. Large rocks were being rolled in to hold down the ropes and chains. They rolled a boulder onto each end of a rope keeping the wyvern pinned down somewhat.

Rali dashed forward and snapped up a spare chain in his jaws before launching himself in the air. He tied a loose knot in the middle of the chain with a large loop using his fore claws. Rali hovered over the wyvern fear nipping at him. He shook the feeling away and yelled to get the wyvern's attention. The huge dragon looked up and before he could roar the loop in the chain was slipped over his snout. Rali pulled as hard and fast as he could the loop tightening around the beast's jaws. Rali tied a second knot in the chain and slowly hovered down handing one end of the chain to a satyr on both sides of the monster.

"Dragon secured!" He heard the commander yell. Fauns and satyrs began to whoop and yell with excitement but it wasn't over yet, the dragon was still alive. The satyr commander grabbed a bow and arrow from and archer and walked slowly over to the still thrashing dragon. He looked into the fierce, rage filled eyes of the wyvern and with slight hesitation raised the bow and loaded the arrow. The commander steadied his shaking hand as he aimed at the creature's eye. The dragon snorted one last time, heated air jetting from its nostrils.

Spyro, Rali, and Flame looked away or closed their eyes at what came next not wanting to see the dragon die. Slowly the three young dragons slunk back to the cave to recover from all the excitement.

The three dragons exited the entry tunnel into the main chamber of the cave with the satyr warriors following in a few minutes after. Ember ran up to them worry, excitement, and curiosity in her eyes all at once.

"What happened? Are you all okay? Did you kill the monster?" She asked the words just flying out of her mouth.

"Yeah we got'm. We're fine and it was the commander that killed him." Flame explained simply. Ember nodded a bit though she was ravenous for more details. She began pegging the guys with more and more questions about what happened until Spyro hushed her so he could tell the story. They all moved off to their part of the cavern where they slept the night before to rest.

Rali lay curled silently off to one side an unreadable expression on his face. His mind played over and over the wyvern diving after him sharp claws extended, slavering jaws waiting to tear at his flesh. Rali tried to force the recent memory from his mind by thinking of his home, the Artisan world, Autumn Plains, anything to get his mind off it. Spyro and Flame retelling the whole event to Ember wasn't very helpful. He half listened to them talk with Sparx and Rex cutting in correcting over statements. Rali sighed as he drifted off to sleep the sounds and voices around him slowly blurring out into silence.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Frozen

The sun rose slowly in the sky casting its golden rays across Fracture Hills. Slowly the land began to wake from its slumber with birds chirping, flowers opening their colorful petals, wildlife rousing in their dens getting ready for the day.

Spyro, Flame, and the others were already awake having to get up early to get a move on. They had wasted too much time fighting with the wyvern last night and they had to make up for it by cutting sleep time. None of them were happy about this. Groggily the four dragons ate their light breakfast and grabbed their packs. Soon they were at least three quarters awake and slowly made their way to the cave's entrance tunnel. They stopped and looked back when a voice called their names. It was Baston.

"You all are leaving so soon? We're going to have a party to celebrate our victory over the wyvern." The old satyr said.

"Well you see we are in kind of in a hurry and we have to get an early start." Spyro said. Baston nodded slowly and was about to let them leave until he called to them again.

"Thank you." He said.

"It was nothing." Spyro said. With that the dragons and their dragonflies headed back to the portal to resume their search for the orbs as well as Elora.

The four dragons glided gently out of the portal from Fracture Hills. The morning air was crisp with a slight chill and dew still clung to the grass. Autumn Plains had a ghostly look to it as mist floated around close to the ground not yet burned off by the rising sun. Everything looked normal; just as Spyro and his friends had left it the day before.

The hairs on Rali's tail bristled like a cat's for a moment as a chill ran down his spine. Something was wrong but he couldn't place it. His blue eyes scanned the forest around him, but there was nothing but trees and the light mist.

"Are you coming or what?" Flame's voice snapped Ralicamur out of his train of thought. He realized that Flame and the others were ahead of him. The young dragon jogged to catch up with his friends. Rali cast one last glance back at the dim forest and narrowed his eyes. He shook his head slightly deciding that it was nothing and kept pace with his friends.

"What'll we do now? Elora isn't here to show us where the orbs are and we have no idea where to look." Ember said walking slightly behind Spyro. The purple dragon slowed a little as he thought for a moment.

"I think I know where to find some. The Professor used quite a few orbs to power the super-portal that leads to Dragon Shores. Once we get to Winter Tundra we can start looking there."

Spyro stopped at a round stone platform that was a lavender blue color with three yellow prongs sticking out of the rim. There was a pink multi-pronged star in the center of the platform. Glowing sparkles floated slowly out of the top of the platform up into the air before vanishing. It was the portal between Avalarian home worlds.

Spyro didn't waste any time in stepping onto the portal his body whirling around growing rapidly smaller as he was whisked away to Winter Tundra. The others followed Spyro though yet again Rali hesitated. He still didn't like of all this portal travel, but he had to get used to it. The green dragon placed a large paw onto the portal and shut his eyes as he was transported.

A large glowing sphere appeared a few feet above the ground and increased in size vanishing as it grew. After a few seconds the sphere vanished completely dropping a dragon onto the ground.

Everything was whirling and her head pounded; the dragoness dared not to open her eyes in fear of finding the world spinning and vomiting. The dragon sunk her claws into the earth in an attempt to ground the spinning feeling. Her breaths were rapid and short until she stopped breathing for half a second and then drew in air filling her lungs completely. She let out a huge sigh feeling slightly better. A finely scaled eye lid opened and the eye focused onto the surroundings. The dragoness opened her other eye and slowly lifted her head. She was lying out in the middle of a barren field with tan dirt patches. The land seemed to just drop off the edge of the world like an island floating in air. The dragoness craned her head until it was almost facing backward to see large stone gates surrounding red roofed buildings. From the looks of it nothing had been around in weeks. The stone gate was all smashed in, the buildings were cracked, windows broken. Someone really let this place go.

The dragoness stood once she fully regained her bearings. She was a European dragon of a slender build. He neck was long and her limbs were lean but well muscled. Her wings were large with a few slight tears along the edges. Her scales were a marvelous sapphire blue and her eyes were a deep emerald color. The dragoness's belly was a dark sand hue and her tail ended with a deadly spade. She knew she wasn't on Earth anymore.

_Well that's the last time I eat four day old meat again. _The dragon thought sarcastically. All she knew was she had to get familiar with this new land in case she didn't make it back home soon so she made her way towards the run down city. The blue dragoness walked up and down the abandoned streets looking for anyone or anything that could possibly help her. The dragon stopped in place as the sound of running reached her ears. The sound grew louder as the person came closer. A feeling in the back of her mind told her that she should remain hidden until she knew that the person was safe. With a powerful flap of her large wings the dragon jumped up to a low roof and pressed her belly against the sun warmed shingles. As quietly as possible the dragon neared the edge of the roof and peered over to see a short creature running franticly down an abandoned street; it was a Cloud Temples inhabitant. For a few seconds the blue dragon didn't see what the Temples man was running from until a dark blur rushed past her hiding spot gliding over the ground after the short pale humanoid. The dragon tensed as the black object formed into a shadow beast. It leapt up landing in front of the exhausted magician and lunged with its powerful jaws. The Temples man was caught by the shoulder held firmly by the creature's fangs. His cry of pain was cut short as the beast stabbed him with its claws killing him.

Aneliea's eyes widened in fear, she did not land in a friendly world at all. She sat up from her hiding spot and got ready to fly away until a long hiss from above her caused the dragoness's head to whirl around. Standing over her on a higher roof was a shadow beast. Stunned with terror Anelia didn't move in time to dodge the monster's blow. Her world tumbled again into darkness.

She wasn't dead, just unconscious. Slowly Anelia's senses came to her as she finally regained consciousness. Her limbs were bound with something cold and hard and her wings were doubly tied. The dragon sat up with a jolt to find herself in chains. They were around her neck, legs and wings, but her muzzle remained free. She figured that they weren't aware of her fire breath. A foul stench hit her nostrils when she took a deep breath causing her eyes to water. It was the stench of a gnorc.

"Looks like my new pet is finally awake…" A rumbling voice echoed throughout the large chamber of the main temple. Anelia looked up at a gigantic creature far bigger than any ogre or troll she'd ever seen. Gnorc's black eyes looked down at her with mild amusement.

"Quite a strange dragon you are." He said.

"Kershit la-arit ashna casrina?!" Anelia demanded. She did not speak the universal tongue as other dragons did as she had learned only the draconic dialect. Her words were spoken with slight hisses and growls. Gnorc wrinkled his brows as he tried to comprehend the words that were thrown at him.

"It seems that you have a very limited tongue." Gnorc said. He rose from his massive throne and slowly walked over to the bound dragon. Anelia looked up at him fear shining in her eyes. When he reached down to her with a huge hand flames erupted from her jaws singeing Gnorc's hand. He jumped back at the fire with a surprised look but he didn't seem injured. He shook his hand to cool it some before looking back down at the small dragon. She growled and hissed at him getting into a fighting stance. She knew that her movements would be restricted by the heavy chains that bound her but she would fight no matter what.

"Gashnar irrit lassh icar!" She roared at him. Gnorc looked passively at the dragon that challenged him. He went and reached for his club that leaned against his large bronze throne. He held it firmly with his right hand and raised it above his head. Anelia's eyes went wide as she knew that she wouldn't be able to dodge the blow in time. Her body would be crushed into a bloody pulp; no chance of survival.

Gnorc brought the massive club down but his motion stopped halfway and a green beam shot straight at the blue dragon engulfing her with light. Gnorc looked down at the dragon with mild satisfaction as he saw Anelia open her eyes finding that she was still alive.

"I'm alive?" She said. "But how is this possible?" She questioned.

"You're alive because I wasn't trying to kill you, dragon. I merely wanted to understand you." Anelia hadn't realized that her words were no longer draconian, no longer hissed or growled, but smooth and rolled of her tongue with ease. It was as if she had been speaking universal all her life.

"What do you want from me?" Anelia asked looking up at the big gnorc that had resumed sitting in his giant throne.

"Not much, my pet, other than complete obedience."

Icy winds howled and swirled angrily across the dark cold land. Spyro and his friends had landed in Winter Tundra safely though they also ended up in a fierce blizzard. The gale force winds buffeted the dragons threatening to blow them away. Ice and snow forced its way into the eyes of the young travelers making sight very difficult. The three dragonflies tightened their magical bonds to their dragons to prevent themselves from being carried off by the horrible storm.

Not only was it hard to see but the thick snow had no time to freeze over causing the dragons to sink into the cold, white ice crystals.

"Well this is great!" Flame yelled from his hole in the snow. The dragons floundered through the snow for a few minutes realizing that they weren't going to get anywhere like that.

"I've got an idea!" Rali yelled above the storm. His body began to glow slightly, a sure sign that he was using magic. Rali floated steadily out of his hole until he was a few inches above the snow. He kept most of his body weight up with his magic with his paws standing lightly in the snow. He walked over to each of his half buried companions and helped them onto his back. Their weight caused Rali to sink further but he exerted more magic keeping him self from sinking any further, Rali float-walked across the top of the snow like a living snowmobile.

The cold was biting and relentless. The four dragons kept their heads down in an attempt to keep from being blown off of Rali's back. The dragonflies had nestled themselves into their dragon's packs exhausted from flying in the blizzard.

There was nothing out there, not even buildings or any visible land marks. The young travelers were lost in an ocean of dark grey as the clouds greatly dimmed the sun's rays. Was there even any sun at all? They didn't know though the greatly hoped that its powerful beams would torch through the dark clouds banishing the storm. No such thing happened.

Time seemed to slow as the cold seeped further into the dragons' bodies to the point that they began to shiver. A sense of horrible fear and doubt began to well up in Spyro and his friends. Had they taken a wrong turn, would they even survive? Spyro was beginning to wish that he had listened to Elder Nestor when he said to stay put. The purple dragon craned his head backward at his friends who huddled close to him in an attempt to keep warm. Their eyes were shut hard against the icy winds and their teeth chattered as their bodies shivered. Normally they could handle the cold pretty well, but the cold was constant and much harsher than the Artisan's mild winters.

Rali was beginning to become afraid as well when he didn't see anything but dark cold land. He was also getting tired and his magic beginning to weaken.

"Spyro, I think we went the wrong way! There's nothing here!" The Chinese dragon shouted so he could be heard. Rali seemed to be the only one who hadn't started to shake yet. His body was more used to the biting cold as he lived high in the mountains where it was cold most of the year.

"I k-know where w-we are." Spyro said although it was a complete lie. _The castle should be up ahead. _He thought remembering that all one had to do was travel straight to reach the castle.

"N-no you d-don't!" Spyro looked back to see Flame clinging to Ember who in turn was holding on to him.

"Face it! We're l-lost! T-there's nothing here b-but frick-ken s-snow!"

Rali sighed as the two began to bicker but the quarrel quickly died out as neither had the energy to fight. Rali stopped walking and looked up. He squinted trying to peer through the grey mess of land. He could see a dark, dark grey shape looming in the distance. It was too large to be just one building. Not only that small glows dotted the dark shape, the orange light very familiar. _Fire! _Rali instantly thought. His quickened pace alerted his friends making them look up; they too saw the dark shape with its glows. As they got closer details of the shape showed it to be the Winter Tundra Castle. The fire glows came from various windows around the building showing that someone was still alive in there. Rali galloped through the snow with renewed energy at the thought of a warm cozy fire with his friends willing him on. The snow was level with the top of the castle's main stairs, but one thing kept them from getting in… the main door. Rali charged the door slamming it with his forepaws. Spyro, Ember, and Flame jumped from his back ignoring their cold stiffened limbs. They strained and pushed against the cold frozen stone, but the doors refused to budge. Harder they pushed with every amount of energy left in their bodies until they realized that the door wasn't going to open that way.

"HELP! SOMEONE HELP US!" Rali began to roar as loud as he could. His yells were swept off by the blizzard's winds before they could reach anyone's ears.

"R-rali, that won't work!" Ember said causing Rali to stop roaring.

"Then what are we going to do! We'll freeze out here!" Rali cried desperately. A large click then a moaning noise startled the dragons making them stare at the castle's doors. After a few moments the doors began to move inward the clicking of gears slightly audible. The crack of light grew bigger until the four dragons had to squint.

"Come on in! Hurry!" The voice of the castle guard inside snapped the dragons out of their awe and they rushed in. The door slowly clicked closed behind them and the large lock folded down into the latches with an un-oiled groan.

"You all are lucky that someone saw you out there and told me to let you in." Standing in front of the four dragons was a satyr clad in light armor with a short sword hanging from his belt. His fur was a stone grey color and a short, shaggy beard hung from his chin. Near him was a young Kingdom dragon with telltale cat ears and rounded snout. He had orange scales and small yellow wings; he was looking curiously at the travelers. The young dragon blushed slightly as Ember glanced at him and quickly looked away.

"Thanks for l-letting us in." Ember said still shivering from the cold.

"Ain't a problem; Toby why don't you show 'em to a guest room and get 'em warmed up." The orange dragon obeyed and motioned for Spyro and his friends to follow. They were lead through grand halls with polished tile floors and marble wall. Great chandeliers hung from the ceilings and detailed stone statues stood motionless forever on watch. The group went up a narrow flight of stairs to a smaller hall lined with doors. Toby stopped at a particular and opened it up to reveal a cool dark room. He walked in over to the stone fireplace that sat against a wall and with a quick flame lit it. The fire roared to life casting its glow across the room. Two made beds were on one side of the room along with a decorative wooden table with four chairs. Two candle lamps sat on night stands next to the beds and a slightly open wardrobe sat in between two large windows.

"Nice place." Flame said as he walked in admiring the furnishings.

"Yeah." agreed Spyro.

"There are some extra blankets in the wardrobe over there. I'll get someone to bring you up some food." Toby said looking down at his paws.

"Okay, thanks." Ember said to the orange dragon.

"You're welcome." He said quickly shuffling his paws slightly before walking swiftly around Rali out into the hall.

"Shy fellow isn't he." Ember said half to herself. Rali lifted a large brow at Toby's actions before shrugging.

Rali went and grabbed a blanket from the wardrobe in his mouth and walked over to the area rug in front of the fireplace with it. He gave it a rough shake unfolding it and tossed it over himself before laying down on the large area rug.

Sparx poked his head out of Spyro's backpack when the purple dragon had placed it in front of a bed.

"Is this the castle?" He buzzed. Spyro replied with as yes as we leapt up onto the bed like a cat. Ember walked over to the fire place and lay down next to Rali relishing the warmth of the fire. Flame made his spot on the other unclaimed bed and wrapped himself up in the comforter before giving a content sigh.

"This is nice." He said before dozing off.

"Um-hm." Ember agreed. Before long all of the dragons had dozed off into a light sleep exhausted from their short journey.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: New Troubles

The gap between awake and floating in a dream was brief. Spyro had found himself among the grassy hills of the Artisan home-world in the middle of the night. The sky was clear and the stars shone brightly. The moon lit up the land in its silver light making it easy to see. Spyro could see the lights of his town glittering in the distance peacefully. The purple hero looked to his left to see his best friend Sparx buzzing quietly taking in the peace of the night.

Suddenly a prickling sensation ran down Spyro's back as he felt as if someone was staring at him. He turned around to look behind him to see a dark shape standing silently on a small hill. The moons light didn't reflect off the dragon's dark scales making him look like a shadow, but his bright yellow eyes seemed to glow. Spyro shifted slightly under the strange dragon's gaze unsure if he should speak to him. There was something unsettling about the black dragon's eyes. It was if he was sad, angry, afraid, and uncertain all at one time. Before Spyro could act a knocking noise came knifing into his dream causing his eyes to quickly open.

Spyro sat up on the bed as knocking on the door came again.

"Coming…" He said as he made his was to the door. The dragon stood on his hind legs and turned the doorknob. On the other side of the door was a brown faun who wore a green tank top and had four bowls of soup on a trey in her hands.

"Elora!" Spyro exclaimed at seeing his friend again.

"Hey." She replied back with a smile.

By now Flame and the others were stirring from their slumbers looking groggy-eyed at the door.

"Wha', where were you?" Spyro said more than one question trying to come out of his mouth. Elora walked into the room and set the steaming bowls of soup down on the floor.

"I was here." Elora said. She walked over to her friend and gave Spyro a hug.

"We were looking for you in Fracture Hills, but we didn't find you there so we thought something bad might've happened to you." Spyro said more composed.

"It's a long story, but I think you should introduce your new friend here." Elora said nodding her head towards Rali. The green dragon was fully awake now and was looking at the faun with curiosity. Fauns and Satyrs had existed on Earth a long time ago and he had heard stories about them from his parents. He never imagined seeing one in person.

Ember and Flame had come forward to grab a bowl of soup and to greet their friend as well.

"This is Ralicamur. You can just call him Rali." Spyro said.

"Nice to meet you..." Elora said smiling again. Elora extended one of her hands towards the young dragon.

"It's nice to meet you too." Rali said after a moment. The dragon then lifted a large paw and placed one of his fingers into Elora's hand shaking hands with her.

"I guess you're all wondering what I'm doing here all the way in Winter Tundra huh?" All of the dragons nodded their heads yes as they slurped on the hot soup. Elora sat down on the area rug making her self comfortable.

"Well it all started about a week ago; it was two days after that monster showed up in Fracture Hills. Many of the fauns and satyrs had been injured or killed by the thing until it finally drove us into hiding. I couldn't just sit around and do nothing while the creature was killing us all off so I went to get help. I came here knowing that Hunter and Bianca were here. Then out of the blue this freak snowstorm showed up preventing me or anyone else from reaching any outside portals and I've been stuck here ever since."

"Hunter and Bianca are here too?" Spyro said excited at their good fortune. Bianca was a rabbit who was once the Sorceress's (another one of Spyro's enemies) apprentice. She was a skilled magician and turned against the Sorceress to help Spyro recover dragon eggs. If anyone could help the Dragon Elders find a way to fix the barrier it would be her.

Hunter was a cheetah with brown spots with a band on his left arm. He was another good friend of Spyro's that helped him through many of his adventures.

"Yeah, they're in the basement looking through scrolls and such. Bianca is trying to figure out a way to close this barrier around our world."

"Wait a minute!" Flame said suddenly putting his bowl down.

"You're barrier is broken too?"

"Yes it is. What do you mean by "too"?" Elora asked concern growing.

"Our barrier has been cracked by some evil Elders and you're saying you're _your_ barrier has been broken." Flame said knowing that they would probably have to help the Avalarians as well as try to save his world.

"That's why we're here Elora." Spyro said his voice serious. "We need orbs to help our Elders fix our own barrier and we've wasted a lot of time." Elora stood up.

"Well we better go see Bianca and try to help her find a solution." With that Elora walked out of the room with the dragons following swiftly behind her. Through beautiful and decorative halls the group went, down flights of stairs and long corridors. The dragon's were beginning to wonder how Elora knew her way around the large castle as it seemed to wind on forever in never-ending halls. Soon the faun stopped in front of a wooden door at the end of a short hall. She opened it and began down a flight of stone stairs to the basement. The basement of the castle was made completely from stone with the exception of wooden doors that lead to storage rooms filled with various things.

"Bianca and Hunter have been spending their time down here?" Ember asked slightly unnerved by the thought of spending so much time in a cold somewhat dark place.

"Yep…" Elora replied.

"I'm not surprised. Down here all alone in the quiet…" Flame said quietly to the pink dragon with a mischievous glint in his brown eyes. Ember shot a stern look at Flame before looking ahead again.

Elora stopped at a storage room where the door was halfway open. They could hear muttering from inside the room that sounded like a spell of some sort. Hunter's voice sounded alerting the group that their presence was now known.

"I've brought some guests." Elora said walking into the relatively large room with the others following. The room was filled with old dusty books and scrolls that were on shelves along the walls along with the ones that were stacked up or scattered about the floor. More importantly off to one corner there was a stash of orbs gleaming and shining with magic.

"Hey, Spyro, it's good to see you. It's good to see too, Flame, Ember." Bianca said walking up to the purple dragon giving him a quick, light hug. The rabbit was wearing a long skirt and a light wool blouse that kept off the basement's chill.

"How 'ya doin' buddy and who's your new friend?" Hunter asked looking and the green head that was poked inside of the room.

"I'm Ralicamur, but Rali for short." The Chinese dragon said introducing himself this time.

"Okay enough with happy intros and greetings. We have to get down to business." Flame said growing more impatient.

"He's right." Spyro agreed. The group walked more into the room instead of standing around the doorway. Spyro told Bianca and Hunter about the predicament the dragon world was in with a few comments from Ember and Flame.

Bianca walked over to a small desk off to one side of the room and picked up a fairly new book. She ran her finger down the page until she found the spot she was last reading from.

"As you may know the barrier around our world has been torn as well and the rip is getting bigger everyday. Some how I managed to find a spell that can help us close it. It uses the power of the orbs in order to stitch up holes in magical things so it should work on the barrier." Bianca looked up to see expectant eyes looking back at her. She gave a sigh and put a book mark in the book before closing it.

"But we have to find out where the barrier rip is first." Spyro tensed up knowing that there was going to be something that would slow their progress.

"Don't worry; I have a way of finding it." She said after a few seconds of silence. Bianca walked over to a pile of scrolls on the floor and picked one up. It had a picture of a simple metal compass on it with runes printed next to it.

"This, my friends," Bianca held the scroll up for everyone to see. "…is a magical tracking compass. If I can get it so that it will track areas devoid of magic instead of full of magic than we should find the area that is under the barrier tear." The dragons, faun, and cheetah studied the scroll for a moment.

"Do you know how to reverse the function of this compass thing? Also where to we get one to start?" Ember asked.

"This basement is full of things. I'm sure there's at least one tracking compass, and yes I do know how to reverse the thing."

"We don't have time to be looking for a compass thing! We have to get to the barrier tear and close it up so we don't die." Flame said growing increasingly impatient.

"Look it would take much longer to travel all around the world for a place that may _think _the barrier tear is at only to find out that we're in the wrong spot." Hunter said.

"Now that would be a real time waster." Spyro said agreeing with Hunter.

"Okay, okay. Let's look for the dumb thing." With that everyone began searching the basement for the magic tracking compass leaving no book or box unturned.

* * *

The Dragon Realms was slipping further into chaos now that most of the portals had become inactive, super portals more so. If there wasn't a way to reactivate the portals then people would be stranded in their lands unable to access outside help if needed. Also there was a sudden increase of Earth dragons that were making them selves known. A few even popped up in the Artisan world and most of them weren't very friendly. In response to the Earth dragon problem Elder Titan and Bruno came up with a special unit built to capture and contain rampaging Earth dragons and to negotiate with the friendlier ones. The rounded up dragons were sent to Stone Hill where there was plenty of space available to hold the dragons.

Currently the team was on the trail of a European dragon that was causing problems around Dark Hollow. The team consisting of mostly Peace Keepers with a few Artisans trudged along a dark path with lanterns in hand through the eternally night world. The clutched their ropes and chains tightly on alert for any sign of the Earth dragon. The lead dragon stopped causing the group to halt. The Artisan knelt to the ground brushing his hand over a tall clump of grass. In between the grass blades was a bronze scale that still held some luster signifying that it recently fell of the dragon. The Artisan picked the scale up and showed it to the dragons behind him. They were getting close. Soon they resumed the hunt marching deeper into the forests of Dark Hollow.

Golden eyes peered through the darkness. The creature was fully aware that he was being tracked by the strange inhabitants of this world. A slender tongue slid out from the massive jaws running along the sides of the mouth. He was hungry. The bronze European dragon sat hunched with his wings tightly folded at his sides.

The lanterns of the Dragon Capture Team were becoming more and more visible as they neared. The bronze dragon tensed as he could hear the footsteps of the team crunching on dried leaves and grass. He pressed his body to the ground knowing that the thin spread trees and low underbrush would not be able to conceal him. With a flick of his powerful tail he stood and stalked away into the depths of the forest seeking more suitable cover.

The trees were becoming closer and closer together as the team neared the center of the forest. The rustles of tree leaves and small steps of wildlife kept the team on their guard as there were unsure if the noise came from the dragon or not. There was a sudden crunching thud as something massive pushed of the leaf ridden ground and the sound of it moving through the air. Then there was a startled yell from one of the team members as he was pinned to the ground by a large forepaw. The Dragon Capture Team whirled around shining their lanterns on the bronze creature. It already had the team member in its jaws holding him by his left arm and was preparing to dash of into the forest, but he was stopped. Recovering from the shock the Dragon Capture Team leaped into action tossing chains and ropes at the Earth dragon. It tried to make a run for it but a chain tripped the dragon causing him to drop his meal and tumble to the ground. More chains and ropes were tossed over the dragon to prevent it from standing. It roared in anger and craned its massive head around and loosed a jet of flames at a clump of Peace Keepers. They dived out of the way barely getting singed, but their hold on the chains remained strong. The bronze European dragon bellowed again, but louder anger clear in his tone. He whipped his tail around bowling over a few dragons knocking the wind out of them and shot another stream of flames. He was not going to go down easy.

"We have to get his head and tail secure!" One of the leaders shouted. Right away the team assembled into positions around the tail and warily around the head. Three Peace Keepers pounced onto the bronze dragon's thrashing tail pinning it. The European dragon tried to whirl around to free him self but the chains and ropes hindered his movement.

An Artisan saw this moment to make a move. He muttered a quick spell and summoned a chain. The now glowing chain was tossed at the dragon's head and snaked around his neck and snout binding the dragon's mouth shut. Anger was slowly being replaced with fear as the dragon was no longer able to use his fangs or fire. His thrashings became more violent draining the team of energy as they tried to control the dragon. For a moment the dragon's thrashing lessened and a team member didn't waste any time to give the dragon a large dose of a special tranquilizing potion. He pushed the needle between the scales of the Earth dragon's neck. The bronze dragon became sluggish, and then tired until he was completely comatose. When they were sure that the Earth dragon wouldn't attack the Dragon Capture Team regrouped and bound the dragon's arms, legs, wings.

The wounded were helped back to town first before the dragon was to be moved. The one who was nearly dinner managed to survive, but he had completely lost the use of his left arm

* * *

"So, how are things looking?" Clenten asked as Gyra looked into her crystal orb.

"The Realm Elders have created a powerful gem that will act as a catalyst to help the orbs close the gap in the barrier. It holds a _lot_ of power on its own, but not quite enough to fix the hole. They still need Avalar's orbs. Spyro will take a bit longer than they are hoping as the Avalarians are in trouble as well. Of course you know that the young hero will try his best to help them." Genus looked into the crystal with little emotion. They still had yet to find Menga. He was somewhere on the island, but obviously he did not want to be found. Smoke billowed from the old Peace Keeper's nostrils. Why was the barrier in Avalar broken? Taking over that world wasn't on the agenda. What was Shadow thinking? Something didn't add up, but the plans for the Dragon Realms were too important to look into the situation with Avalar.

"We're going to steal the gem. We can't let the Elders get an edge no matter how small it is." The other two dragons looked to Genus who still stared into the crystal.

"Alright then, allow me to get us there." Clenten walked outside the small wooden cabin onto one of the platforms with his staff clenched tightly in one hand. He lifted the staff into the air which began to glow as the magic in the area began to get sucked into it, and with a swift movement Clenten pointed the staff forward releasing a bolt of energy that spread into a rough oval shape. Within the oval a watery image of the Magic Crafter world was shown. The image shifted from place to place until a large stone building appeared. The details of the place weren't clearly defined but the banished Elders knew exactly what it was. Without any hesitation the three dragons stepped through the temporary portal.

Elder Cosmos was running over some paper work that he had on a clipboard regarding the progress of the gem. It was complete, but without the orbs it wouldn't work. Cosmos walked through the cool stone building down a short hall. He ended up in a room filled with gems and other magical items. Other Magic Crafter dragons were scurrying about momentarily checking the large gem that sat on a table in the middle of the room. The dragons continued to work except for one that walked over to the dragon Elder.

"The gem has been completed sir. Now all we need are the orbs." The young dragon said.

"Very good; let's just hope Spyro returns in time." Cosmos said a tinge of worry in his voice.

"I'm sure he," The dragon was cut off when the roars and shouts of other dragons erupted from the lower level of the building. Cosmos and the other dragon raced down a flight of stairs to the main entrance to see Clenten, Gyra, and Genus standing in the large doorway. The dragons that were on guard duty when strewn about the floor unconscious burns and ice covering their bodies. Cosmos hadn't seen the banished Elders in person before. The younger Elder tensed up.

"W-who are you?" Cosmos demanded in a slightly shaky tone.

"That's not important, but what is, is that we want the gem." With that Gyra stepped forward and blasted a stream of wind from her hand straight at the Magic Crafter Elder. The younger dragon next to Cosmos stepped in front of the Elder in an attempt to protect him but the air blast just knocked him aside as if he was a piece of paper. Cosmos to up an offensive stance ready to face down the banished Elders.

"You won't be taking anything." He said in a cold voice. Genus stepped forward willing to take on the younger Elder.

"You two get the gem. I'll deal with him." Cosmos darted towards Clenten and Gyra in an attempt to keep them from advancing up the stairs, but Genus stepped forward and shot a blast of fire from his great jaws. Cosmos halted and leapt backward to avoid the searing flames. Clenten and Gyra rushed up the main flight of stairs blasting anyone who got in their way. Cosmos growled at the fact that he let two enemies slip from him.

"You're wasting your time Elder." Genus said hatred glowing in his eyes. He was facing the kin of one of the Elders that banished him so long ago. In fact Elder Cosmos looked very much like his mother who was the Elder before him. This only fueled Genus's rage and hatred. He would enjoy killing him.

The two elder's circled each other slowly waiting for their antagonist to make a move. Elder Cosmos launched the first attack shooting a strong magic beam from his hand. Genus blocked the attack with one of his great wings and countered with a spiraling cone of fire released from his powerful jaws. Cosmos barely dodged the powerful attack as his left wing got seared by the fire. Genus charged forward hands and claws glowing for a split second before erupting into flames. The Peace Keeper slashed at the smaller dragon with his claws of fire. Cosmos didn't have enough time to escape the burning claws and they raked downward across his chest. White hot pain shot through the small Elder's body causing him to roar in agony. Genus raised his burning claws again to strike, but the wounded Elder kicked him squarely in the chest knocking the air from the other dragon's lungs. Struggling to his feet Cosmos stared at the sand colored dragon in front of him for a short moment before tackling the Genus. The bigger dragon fell backward under Cosmos's weight enraging him. Cosmos bit down on the sand dragon's muscular shoulder with all of his strength his teeth piercing through the large Elder's skin and muscle. With his still burning hands Genus picked Cosmos up by the neck before kicking him off with a swift blow. Cosmos landed against a wall and slid down to the floor bleeding heavily from the slash marks on his chest. Cosmos knew that he was in trouble. He would have to think fast if he were to survive. The younger Elder struggled to his feet and muttered a quick healing spell that stopped his bleeding, but didn't fully heal his wounds. Genus stood up his shoulder bleeding heavily from where Cosmos had bit him. The large dragon clenched his fangs and charged the smaller Magic Crafter with a deafening roar. Cosmos ducked out the way of Genus's fists and blasted a stream of fire of his own from his jaws. Genus quickly lifted up a large clawed hand that glowed with intense magic grabbing the flames and forming it into a concentrated ball of fire. Cosmos gasped as Genus straightened up with a smirk on his face.

"You must realize that I am the master of fire magic. You can't possibly harm me with my own element." With a swift movement Genus threw the fireball at Cosmos who managed to erect a magical shield protecting him from the brunt of the attack. Some fire managed to get around his shield and seared at his wings causing him to flinch. Genus saw Cosmos falter and leaped at the smaller Elder whirling around in the air and brought his thick tail down onto the other dragon. A sickening crunch was heard from the blow and Cosmos was thrown backward with the force of the impact. A sharp pain in his chest told him that a few ribs were broken… at least. Genus loosed another massive cone of fire at the downed Elder who again put up a magical shield, but it was weaker this time only blocking a small amount of the attack. Cosmos cringed as pain spread through his body. He opened one eye to see Genus advancing slowly toward him like a predator that knew his prey couldn't get away. Cosmos mustered the remaining reserves of his strength to stand and lashed out at the Peace Keeper with his sharp talons. Genus caught the seemingly slow clawed hand as it came at him and he clenched his fingers around Cosmos's hand until the smaller dragon yelped in pain.

"Since I can not kill your mother, I'll kill you instead and have my revenge." He said with a cold voice as he held Cosmos up to his face by his arm. As soon as the last word left Genus's mouth Cosmos understood who this old dragon, and the others, were. Cosmos slashed at Genus with his free hand raking it across his face. Genus roared with rage and grabbed Cosmos by the throat. Cosmos thrashed as much as his ravaged body would allow which only made the hand around his neck tighten. He grabbed at Genus's arm trying to wrench him self free, but it was a futile attempt. Genus's eyes glowed with pure enjoyment as he watched Cosmos's struggles lessen in his grasp. He paid no mind to the claws that were digging into his skin drawing blood. He held Cosmos until the light green dragon ceased to move.

After struggling through the hoards of dragons that tried to stop them, Clenten and Gyra finally made it to the top floor of the building. They were halted by two Magic Crafter guards clad in plate metal armor intent on keeping the gem safe from harm. They lowered their spears ready to attack the two old dragons unaware of how powerful they were.

"If you turn yourselves in we won't have to hurt you." One of the guards said in a stern tone hoping that the two old dragons would listen to him.

"No respect from young ones anymore." Clenten said raising his staff. Ice shot up from the floor beneath the dragon guards rapidly encasing them. Panic overtook the guards as their bodies were being covered by the freezing ice; they gulped in their last breath of air as their snouts were covered in ice preventing them from breathing. The guards' faces were frozen, twisted in fear though their eyes still darted around looking for anyone that could help them, but they knew that it was their end. Clenten and Gyra walked around the ice pillar to the door at the back of the hall. Gyra blew the wooden door down startling the four dragons inside. Their eyes glanced at the super-gem that stood unprotected in the middle of the room. They dashed to the center of the room creating a living shield around the magical object.

"Let me handle the rest dear." Gyra said walking towards the four dragons. They tensed as Gyra inhaled sharply until her lungs were completely filled. With a quick sigh a large gust of wind at the four dragons launching them backward. One hit the podium the gem was sitting on causing it to fall and break into five uneven shards.

"Well that's just great." Clenten said sarcastically. He and Gyra walked over to the broken gem inspecting it closely with their old eyes. Clenten knelt down onto the floor and reached out picking up a shard in his hand. As he grabbed the shard his arm tingled for a few seconds before a massive energy shot up his arm spreading quickly through his body. Clenten's body glowed with the gem's power; his scales began to shine once more like they did when he was young, the larger of the tears in his wings healed leaving light scars, his beard shortened before turning the dark blue color it once was, and the muscles Clenten had when he was young returned. After a few more minutes the glow around the blue dragon's body faded. Clenten fully stood with renewed power and youth; he no longer looked aged and worn all signs of he former self gone. The dragon inhaled and opened his eyes that were their original deep, clear grey color.

"Well you don't experience that every day." He said the aged rasp of his voice gone. Clenten was in his prime once more.

* * *

The steady beat of wings outside alerted Elder Nestor and Titan as well as Conerr. The large doors to the temple opened and a solemn young dragon walked in. His eyes were dull with sadness and he could barely bring himself to look the Elders in the eyes as they walked towards him.

"I have… horrible news." He said in the most composed voice he could muster. The messenger told the Elders of what happened in the Magic Crafter realm.

"What!? HOW, how could this happen?" Elder Nestor roared in unparalleled grief. His son Conerr stood near the long oval table in the Artisan's meeting room inside the temple. His look was solemn, but his eye's betrayed a deep sadness. Elder Titan tried to calm Nestor down, but the news the messenger brought was just too much.

"I'm sure he fought as hard as he could, but…" Titan's deep voice was tight as he talked. He knew that Cosmos's death would be the hardest for Nestor as they had grown up together and were practically brothers. Titan walked the sobbing Elder over to a chair where he could sit down. The large Elder placed a hand on his friend's shoulder in a small effort to reassure the green dragon. Elder Titan took a deep but shaky breath and began walking toward the room's entrance, but he stopped and looked over his shoulder.

"I know that this will be a hard time for you as well as the rest of us, but you mustn't forget that our world is in danger, and saving it must come first." Titan sighed before walking out of the room leaving Nestor and his son alone.

"Everything's going to be alright." Conerr said trying to comfort his father.

"How can you say that!?" The green Elder snapped. Conerr jumped back at his father's sudden outburst.

"Cosmos is dead, we now know that those… those _monsters_ are truly back, and Spyro has yet to return with the orbs, not to mention we no longer have our super-gem." Nestor held his head in his hands as tears streamed down his face. Conerr didn't have anything that he could say that would help. All he could do was hope that Spyro and his friends would return soon before it was too late.

* * *

"Found one!" Flame said in triumph as he grabbed a magic compass out of an old, musty box. He blew the dust off of it and turned to give it to Bianca. The others stopped their search and congregated in the middle of the room.

"That didn't take very long now did it?" Spyro said poking fun at his friend's previous complaint. The red dragon did nothing but snort.

Bianca held up the magic compass by its chain and examined it. She walked over to a table with books scattered on it looking through the pages. Every now and then she muttered to herself going over the words for the proper incantation. Everyone else just stood silently in the room waiting for Bianca to complete her task. A large growl from Rali's stomach made a few of his friends jump. Rali flattened his ears and lowered his head apologetically; the small bowl of soup he had earlier wasn't enough to hold him for long. Bianca was undisturbed by the noise and continued to examine the compass and look through books. Hours seemed to pass until Bianca finally walked away from the books to the middle of the room. The group watched intently as the rabbit placed the compass in the middle of the floor and write runes around it one the stone floor with a piece of chalk. Bianca grabbed her magic wand that was attached to her belt and held it over the compass. She began to chant incoherently as she recited the words of the spell causing the compass and her wand to glow. After a few minutes she was done and placed her wand back onto her belt. Bianca's friends leaned slightly closer still silent as she picked the compass up off the ground. The compass's needle stayed still as Bianca gave it one last look over.

"Well, does it work?" Ember asked.

"How come the needle isn't moving?" Flame asked thinking that something was wrong with it and that Bianca screwed up. Sometimes he couldn't help but be a pessimistic thinker.

"It works, I just have to activate it, but if it doesn't I'll just try the spell again. ….TRACK." Just as the last sound of the word track left Bianca's mouth the compass's needle began swinging wildly around with no sign of slowing.

"The thing doesn't work, I knew it." Flame said under his breath.

"Just give it a minute." Spyro said still hopeful. The compass's needle finally slowed its wild spinning until it pointed in a certain direction.

"According to the compass the barrier tear is that way." Bianca said pointing with her finger for emphasis.

"Well then let's not waste anymore time." Spyro said eager to get going.


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: Sorry for the delayed update. I got lazy and didn't feel like reading through to get rid of grammar errors. But about a month later I got a new chapter up to enjoy. Perhaps I'll continue updating more regularly, but there's not much of a chance of that. I'm pretty lazy and I don't like to follow schedules.**

* * *

Chapter 7: Captured

Anelia sat with her wings tightly folded against her sides oblivious to the early morning's chill. She sat on top of a red roofed building that over-looked Cloud Temple's eastern lands. The sun was barely over the horizon. A slim metal collar tightly adorned her neck as she was now Gnorc's personal pet. She burned with a rage that would only be sated once her fangs bathed in the blood of that monster, but she knew that would never happen. The wretched collar she wore allowed him full control over her. If she didn't do what he wanted then he would just snap his large fingers and she would die in the most horrible way she could imagine… or that's what Gnorc said. Anelia didn't want to take any chances, so she obeyed him.

Today she was on watch for any prisoners that might've escaped, but with how tightly secured the prisons were she wondered how that one person she saw when she had first arrived managed to get out. Anelia hoped that something or someone would come along soon so that she could escape herself.

* * *

Spyro and his friends had returned to their room in the palatial castle of Winter Tundra. They sat gathered around the fireplace discussing their plans of what to do next. They came to the agreement that as soon as the storm died down they would leave to find the barrier tear.

"Do you really think that Bianca has enough power to close the barrier tear?" Rali asked.

"Of course she does. She may not be as experienced as other magicians, but when the spell really counts, Bianca can pull it off." Spyro said reassuringly. However Rali still looked unconvinced.

"I hope you're right…. I want to go home." Rali was enjoying the company of his new friends, but the thought of his home mountain and the loving snuggles of his parents constantly forced their way into the young dragon's mind. He told himself over and over that once everything went back to the way it was he would see his home again. He had to be brave just like his father and helpful like his mother or else he'd be just some kid that got in the way.

"Don't worry Rali. You'll see your home and family again." Ember said in a gentle tone. Rali slowly nodded his head.

"We better get some rest. We have a lot of preparing to do in the morning." Flame said walking over to his bed. The others went to their resting places and slowly drifted into a deep sleep.

Rali was the first to wake. His eyes were still closed, but he was now aware of where he was. The room was quiet except for the soft snores of his friends. Wait… it was quiet! Rali jolted up to see sunlight filtering in through the rectangular windows of the room. The storm must've passed during the night. Rali stood and walked over to the windows and peered out at the blindingly white world. The snow covered absolutely everything leaving only the tallest of buildings still visible. The snow had piled up about two feet above the castle's main stairs outside. Rali's tail twitched as he looked outside at the white landscape. The snow seemed smooth and unbroken. The Chinese dragon wondered if they could walk on top of the snow, but it was unlikely.

Shuffling noises caused Rali to crane his head backward to see Flame staring at him, his eyes groggy.

"The storm stopped huh?" Flame asked stifling a yawn. Rali nodded his head excitedly.

"We should get the others up so we can get a move on." The red dragon said as he moved to wake his dragonfly up.

Hunter, Bianca, and Elora were nearly done with their preparations when the dragons finished breakfast. They had gathered their packs and stuffed them with food, medical supplies, and a jar of butterflies for the dragonflies to eat when needed. Spyro retrieved the orbs and put them into the omni-pocket that Elder Nestor had given to him. All the orbs fit inside without having to be stuffed. The omni-pocket remained small enough to be carried around in Rali's pack. The travelers all gathered in the grand foyer of the castle.

Bianca and Elora were both dressed in multiple layers to guard against the cold of Winter Tundra. However Hunter only wore a wool scarf positive that he would be warm enough.

"You know your short fur won't stand a chance against that." Elora said pointing out a window at the snow.

"Trust me, I'll be fine." He said. The others shrugged.

The satyr guard stood near the doors ready to let them out. He wished them luck and he opened the massive stone doors. A rush of cold air filled the foyer making everyone flinch. They braced themselves and walked out into the snow. The doors closed noisily behind them.

Bianca held up the tracking compass; the needle pointed exactly northwest.

"How exactly are we going to travel across the snow? We nearly drowned in it when we first arrived." Ember said.

"….Easy." Bianca said as she whipped out her wand. With a few quick strokes a bolt of magic surrounded everyone's feet. Hunter giggled as the magic tickled his feet.

"There, try walking on top of the snow." The group glanced among themselves wondering who they should send to walk out first. Rali lifted a massive paw out of the snow and placed it on top of the white cold surface. He slowly put more weight onto his paw seeing that it sunk barely half an inch. Rali continued to apply pressure finding that he didn't sink any further. The green dragon lifted his other paws and placed them on top of the snow and walked forward a few steps showing everyone that it was alright.

"It works!" He said as he pranced heavily around still sinking only half an inch into the snow.

"Well let's go then." Spyro said walked forward. The others followed him.

The group walked on with Bianca in the lead. She held the magic compass up in front of her making sure that she was on the right track. Minutes turned into dragging hours before the compass's needle began to spin so that it pointed to one spot.

"Why did we stop?" Elora asked. "There's nothing around here." Bianca looked at the compass and then to the ground.

"Maybe not on top of the snow…" She said before looking over to Spyro, Ember, and Flame.

"You think you guys can torch a hole in the snow? It'd be a lot faster than digging."

"Sure." The purple dragon said walking over to the spot Bianca indicated. He, Ember, and Flame loosed a steady stream of fire from their jaws that quickly melted the snow. It was only a few minutes of flaming before then top of a portal arch was visible. Before long the entire portal was uncovered, but it was inactive.

"Well this is just great." Flame said.

"Don't get all upset just yet. We do have the orbs needed to reactivate the portal. Bianca grabbed the omni-pocket out of Rali's pack and fished out three orbs. She placed them in front of the deactivated portal and chanted a quick spell, and with a quick stroke of her wand the portal glowed to life. The clear image of Cloud Temples was displayed in the portal. Bianca replaced the orbs back into the omni-pocket and gave it back to Rali. Without hesitation she stepped through with the others following behind.

* * *

Gnorc sat on his large throne in the main temple. His eyes were closed as he dozed lightly, but the sound of wing flaps alerted him. He glanced to his left to see Anelia perched in a large open window like a bird.

"What is it?" Gnorc said with mild disinterest.

"That purple dragon you spoke of and companions have arrived." She said referring to Spyro.

"Gnorc's eyes fully opened and he turned his head to face Anelia completely.

"He's here? He's a bit early, but the sooner the better. With him I can proceed with my plans." He said with a smirk.

* * *

Spyro and his friends looked around Cloud Temples in shock. The place was in shambles. It didn't look that bad from the picture in the portal, but when looked at first hand the place was a complete mess.

"This is awful." Hunter said as he looked around. The others agreed.

"We have to be careful here. Since this place is under the barrier rip the magic can be unpredictable and dangerous." Bianca said with a stern voice as she warned the others.

They stayed quiet as they walked up to the smashed front gate. Hunter studied the talon marks that were scattered across the stone. He ran his hand over a set of marks.

"What ever made this must be a pretty nasty creature." He said.

"And there must've been a lot of the seeing how many marks there are." Elora added. As Elora finished her sentence everyone felt and uneasy feeling churning in their stomachs.

"As long as whatever made those marks isn't around anymore who cares. We should get a move on." Flame said as he walked toward the open gate.

"Lead the way fearless leader." Spyro said. "And if what ever made those marks is still around it'll eat you first." He said poking fun at his friend. Flame did nothing but growl and mumbled something about Bianca being in the lead since she had the compass.

The group pressed into the city on high alert. They wound their way up and down city streets encountering nothing and no one. The strange chill the four dragons had experienced when they first arrived in Avalar returned, but the feeling was much stronger this time.

"Do you sense that?" Ember asked the others. They were silent for a while until Hunter answered, "Yeah, I do." Ember looked up at him to see the fur on the back of his neck bristling slightly. The cheetah had an arrow in his hand just in case while Bianca held her wand firmly in her hand. Elora's hand rested on the handle of a dagger that she had brought with her.

"It could be a side affect of the magic fluctuating." Bianca suggested.

Suddenly the compass's needle began to spin wildly much like it did when it was first activated. Bianca stared at the instrument as it spun without showing any signs of slowing. The others crowded around her asking what's wrong, and why the compass wasn't working, and other unhelpful questions. While their attention was on the compass, not far from them, several pools of black began to form just out of sight behind garbage cans or buildings. Slowly shadow beasts rose steadily from the inky black pools their red eyes focused on the travelers. The black pools disappeared beneath their clawed feet. They began to advance on the group who were still focused on the compass.

"I told you that the magic could be…." Bianca said still fixated on the compass, but when she was aware that no one was listening to her, her sentence cut short and she lifted her head. They were surrounded by shadow beasts. Hunter loaded an arrow and Elora drew her dagger. Spyro crouched and tensed ready for a fight. Rali lowered his head and bared his sharp fangs.

"Looks like we've got company." Flame growled.

"Who are you?" Spyro demanded. They replied by lunging at the travelers with screeching roars. Spyro lashed out at a shadow beast that was coming after him with his horns. Spyro fell through the dark body landing roughly behind it with a bewildered look on his face. The shadow beast turned to face him and seemed to smirk. The purpled dragon dashed for the beast again and attacked with a jet of flames from his mouth. The fire passed through the shadow beast leaving it uninjured. With a blur the beast rushed Spyro slashing him with its sharp talons causing the dragon to growl in pain. Spyro shook the drops of blood off his face and bared his fangs at the shadow beast in front of him trying to come up with a plan.

The others weren't fairing any better. Hunter tried to take the beasts down with his arrows but they were just as useless as Spyro's attacks. The cheetah nimbly dodged a beast's claws and countered with his own. Hunter raked the beast's side but his claws only passed through the living shadow.

A thick tail clubbed Flame across his side as he tried a leaping attack on a shadow beast. The red dragon fell to the ground with a thud pain spreading through his body. He gritted his teeth against the pain and quickly stood. Two shadow beasts loomed over him causing him to back up. When one attacked he jumped out of the way just trying to dodge attacks.

How could they hurt a shadow? This was something that they all pondered. It was especially mind boggling since the beasts could hurt them. There must be a weak point. Rali took to the air trying to evade the beasts that were coming after him only to discover that his flight was difficult. The magic level in the area was dropping again, and without the world's magic giving him a boost, Rali would have to depend on his own. His erratic flight only got him a few dozen yards away from the others. Rali stood alone against the three beasts that faced him. He growled defensively as the beasts neared. He froze when one charged. It was like fighting the wyvern all over again. Rali was consumed by his fear unable to move. Time seemed to slow as the shadow beast leapt into the air in order to use the talons on its feet as well. Inches closed between the beast and Rali when something clicked in the young dragon's head. With a savage roar the young dragon lashed out with his own claws right before the beast's attack could connect. The monster was sent flying backward into the dirt with a screech. Rali was still holding his paw in the air staring at the beast he just downed. A sudden feeling of empowerment washed over the Chinese dragon. The two other shadow beasts stared at their fallen comrade and then at Rali who was charging them. His fangs slashed through the beast, but his attack didn't hurt the beast like the last one did. Rali backed off before the beasts could retaliate. One beast rushed him again going in for a low attack, but Rali was more prepared this time. When the beast's attack was only a foot away from connecting Rali slashed it with his large claws knocking it sideways onto the ground. That's when Rali saw their weakness. They were vulnerable to attacks only when they were attacking themselves. They had to solidify in order to do harm. Rali had to warn his friends of this before it was too late. However more pools of black formed around the young dragon and shadow beasts emerged cutting him off.

The others were managing to keep just out of reach of the sharp talons and teeth, but not without any injury. Elora got a deep gash on shoulder and Hunter had slash marks on his chest. Ember and Flame both had bite wounds and Spyro still had the slash wounds across his face. They were all back to back forced into a group. That's when they noticed that Rali wasn't with them. Bianca glanced away from the beasts in front of her to see an aqua green shape out the corner of her eye. Rali was surrounded.

The beasts seemed to halt their attack on the group just keeping them from getting away until one lunged for Elora. The faun's eyes widened in shock and the grip on her dagger tightened. When the beast was nearly on her she plunged the dagger into its head, causing it to hang in the air. Black, ink like blood flowed down the dagger before the beast suddenly vanished along with its blood. Still in shock Elora fell backward. It was with that the mass of beasts resumed attack on the group with a rage glinting in their eyes.

Rali fought off the beasts as much as he could, but they just kept coming. He managed to banish two shadow beasts back to the darkness, but the others he couldn't mortally wound. They jumped and slashed, bit and roared. Rali was outmatched with the number of beasts he faced. They backed him up against a building restricting his movements. That encompassing fear washed over him again, but this time he really thought that he would die, that he would never see his parents again, that he wouldn't be able to help his friends anymore. The last thing he remembered was crying out before his world went dark as he was swamped with beasts.

"RALI!" Spyro yelled as he heard the young dragon's cry. He tried to charge through the wall of beasts only to be clubbed to the ground with a thick tail. He coughed and tried to stand but a sharp blow to the side of his head sent him rolling across the ground. He glanced around for his golden companion, but Sparx was nowhere to be seen. He could hear the others fighting, but suddenly he fell unconscious.

Hunter, Bianca, and the others were left. They dodged and weaved to get around the flurry of claws and teeth. Flame was slashed again across his left shoulder. He could no longer see his friend Spyro who became lost in the sea of beasts that surrounded them.

"We can't win like this!" Ember cried as more beasts appeared.

"If Elora can somehow manage to kill one of those things then we can to!" Hunter said as he loaded an arrow. He ignored his friends' cries as they told him to leap out of the way of an oncoming beast. As it raised a clawed hand to slash the cheetah Hunter let loose his arrow that lodged in the beast's chest. It coughed and staggered backward, inky blood dripping on the ground until the shadow beast disappeared. Hunter didn't waste anytime loading another arrow. He whirled on a beast that was charging from behind him with its jaws wide open ready to bite with its fangs. It stopped just a foot and a half in front of Hunter with an arrow protruding from its head. It fell into a black heap on the ground and disappeared like the other fallen beasts did. Hunter had figured out their weakness, that their vulnerable when attacking.

"Only attack when they get close!" He commanded. Everyone changed their battle plans ready to take the remaining beasts on when they began to back away. Slowly the monsters backed until there was considerable distance between them and the heroes. They returned to the shadow pools and vanished.

"Aww, and I was just getting ready to rip them a new one!" Flame said with a hint of disappointment in his tone.

"We'll have time for fighting later. We have to find Spyro and Rali." Elora said clearly worried about her friends.

"We have no idea where they are or if they're even…" Ember's sentence trailed away.

"Don't worry. Those two are too tough to be taken down by those things." Hunter said reassuringly.

"But before we set out to look for them we should heal our wounds." Bianca said. She figured that using a healing spell could be dangerous because of the erratic magic so she unclipped a few vials of healing potion she brought with her from her belt. She handed one to each of her friends.

"It may sting, but just drip some into the cuts." She said. Once they were finished Hunter stood up.

"We should get a move on." He said, and with that he began to walk away with the others following behind him.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Closure

The sense of touch and hearing slowly came back to Spyro as he regained consciousness. His body was racked with pain and his head pounded. The slash marks on his body stung as he tried to move. He was lying on a cold stone floor, but he wasn't sure where he was. The sound of whispering and murmurs alerted Spyro causing him to open his eyes. He was in the basement of the main temple with the Temples people. They watched him cautiously and curiously as he slowly rose to a sitting position. The first coherent thought that came to his mind was his friends. Before he could call out any of their names one of the people talked to him.

"Are you alright? Those look like some pretty bad wounds." Spyro turned to face the person talking to him. It was a young wizard clad in burgundy robes.

"Where are my friends? Are they still…." Spyro didn't want to finish his last question, but the temple's wizard knew what he was going to ask.

"I'm not sure. The only other that was brought back here was a large, green, beast of some sort." The wizard said.

"Are you sure they didn't bring anyone else?"

"Yes." The wizard replied after a few moments. Spyro growled at his situation. He had to escape with Rali somehow and find his friends before too much time could pass. Wherever his friends were he hoped that they were alright. Slowly Spyro lifted himself to his feet and limped to the door to the small room. There was a small barred opening at the top where a dim light shone through. Carefully standing in his hind legs Spyro peered out of the opening. He gasped and nearly fell backward when his eyes meet a shadow beast's standing only a few feet from the door. The beast hissed and turned away. Spyro sunk to the floor; his claws scraped against the stone in frustration. He had to find a way out… and fast.

Hunter, Bianca, Elora, Flame, and Ember swiftly made their way down abandoned streets as fast and stealthily as they could. They could feel the magic becoming more and more erratic. They had to find Spyro and Rali and close the barrier before it was too late. However they had no idea where to start looking for their captured friends. They didn't even know if they were still alive. They knew that Spyro wouldn't go down that easily, but the small fear of finding him and Rali dead clung to the back of their thoughts. What if they didn't find Spyro and Rali at all? The group of friends tried to keep the negative thoughts as far away as possible.

They crossed a small bridge to the center of the small city where the main temple sat. Its large figure rose into the sky blocking out the setting sun's rays. The building didn't look any better than the rest of the town. In fact it looked even worse. The windows were broken and the bricks were crumbling here and there. No light shown from any of the many windows giving it a dark and depressing look.

Ember gave a few short sniffs before wrinkling her nostrils.

"Do you smell that?" She asked. The others sniffed the air as well. The stench of gnorc wafted out of the broken windows.

"Smell's fresh too." Flame added with a hint of a growl in his voice. Whoever that gnorc was inside he was probably the reason for all of this trouble. The group advanced to the front doors of the building and pushed them open. The inside looked just as bad as the outside. Stairs were cracked and broken, once elegant chandeliers lay broken on the floor, statues were knocked over and pictures that decorated the halls were ripped. Slowly the travelers made their way father inside with their weapons at the ready. If there was a gnorc around then there were bound to be enemies. They stopped when a growl greeted their ears. They looked up to see Aneliea standing at the top of a flight of stairs that lead to the main chamber.

"Where's Spyro!?" Elora demanded. Anelia ignored the faun's question and slowly padded down the cracked steps. Hunter loaded an arrow and Bianca raised her wand. Ember and Flame lowered their heads with their fangs bared.

"Leave this place if you want to live." The European dragon said in a cold tone.

"Not until we find our friends." Hunter said with an arrow aimed at the blue dragon's head.

"If you won't leave then I'll make you." Anelia's paws began to glow with magic. She reared up onto her hind legs and shot bolts from her claws at two stone statues that guarded the entrance to the temple. The bolts of magic hit the statues causing them to glow. The group whirled around to face the statues, and for a moment they remained motionless until one of the statue's eyes flickered with the glow of life. The statue slowly began to move as if it was of muscle and bone. It stood from its sitting position and stared down at the travelers. The other statue came to life shortly after. They stepped down off of their stands causing the group to take uneasy steps backward. The two statues looked like saber-tooth cats only with slightly longer necks and thick muscular tails. They were easily twice as tall as Hunter and still retained their stone weight. The cat monsters had small hornlets growing out of their heads above their eyes. Their stone paws clacked on the marble floor as they walked toward Hunter and the others. While the travelers were watching the cat-beast statues Anelia slipped away.

The two statues circled the group their fangs glinting in the light that filtered through the windows. Then their ears folded back and with a snarl the cat-beasts hurled themselves at the travelers their jaws wide open and their claws splayed. Nimbly the group dodged the attack that left a cracked indent in the floor where the living statues landed. The cat-beasts turned and attacked again this time with a frontal charge their paws clacking loudly against the floor. Flame and Ember dodged one cat-beast flanking it. They loosed a stream of fire from their jaws at the living statue engulfing its side with flames. They beast let out a furious roar and turned on the two dragons unaffected by the fire. They barely dodged the massive paw of the cat-beast.

Hunter leapt up onto a tall podium to get a better angle of attack. He loaded an explosive arrow knowing the regular ones would have no affect on the beasts' stone hides. Elora and Bianca ran towards the podium Hunter was on lining it up for a perfect shot. Before the beast could charge again an explosion rocked its body knocking it to the ground. It quickly regained it bearings and stood showing that it was unaffected by the explosive arrow. Hunter cursed under his breath and loaded another one as the beast charged in hopes of slowing it down. The beast charged and was hit by another explosion causing it to stumble forward smashing into the marble floor cracking it.

Bianca saw her opening and rushed forward. If magic brought these statues to life, then magic can stop them. With a quick spell Bianca shot a stream of magic from her wand. The beast was just standing again when the beam of magic came at it, but it never hit. The beam stopped short and fizzled out. Bianca stood dumbfounded for a few moments before she remembered that the land's magic was unstable and caused reactions in spells and other magical things. She heard her named yelled and rushed out of the way before the stone beast could get to her.

Flame and Ember weren't fairing any better. Their attacks did nothing to the cat-beast. All they could do was dodge the heavy paws and dagger-like fangs. They had to come up with something quick before they were too tired to dodge anymore. Ember glanced up for a split second spotting a chandelier that was still hanging. If only they could get the cat-beast under it; with something that large falling on it, it would definitely crack.

"Hunter," Ember shouted out. "On my signal shoot the chandelier with an explosive arrow." She shouted. It took a moment before Flame caught on to the plan, but once he did he helped the pink dragon lead the beast under the chandelier. Hunter hoped that it wouldn't take long. Elora and Bianca couldn't keep the other beast occupied for long. Ember and Flame dashed under the chandelier and stood waiting for the beast to attack. It leapt into the air and came down on the marble floor missing the two dragons that dodged the attack.

"NOW!" Ember yelled. Hunter loosed the arrow and the explosion snapped the chain holding the chandelier up. Before the beast could realize it was in danger it was too late. The chandelier came down on it smashing it into several pieces. Its whining growl slowly faded. The second beast took notice of its downed counterpart. It growled and bared its large fangs before charging the podium on which Hunter stood. It hurled its full weight into the podium sending it crashing to the ground. Hunter landed hard onto the floor and rolled to a stop. He tried to regain his bearings, but his head pounded until everything went black. The beast saw his downed victim and advanced forward until someone shouted at it. It was Ember, Flame, and Elora. They tossed debris at the beast drawing its attention away from Hunter. Bianca slipped pass the beast to get to the cheetah. Bianca grabbed him by the arms to drag him away to a safe place.

"You really need to eat less…" She muttered to the unconscious cheetah. The sorceress dragged Hunter around a corner and propped him up against a wall. She'd have to leave him there for now.

The stone beast growled as it steadily padded forward towards Ember, Flame and Elora. It had them cornered. It was about to strike when something hit its flank. It turned to see its side covered in a dark red potion.

"Since magic won't work maybe this will. FLAME HIS SIDE!" Ember and Flame wasted no time and the beast was one again covered in fire, but this time it screeched in pain as molten cracks spread across its body. Slowly it crumbled to the floor in a smoldering heap.

"Well that wasn't so tough." Flame said with a slightly smug look. "That dragon thought she could stop us." He said. Ember rolled her eyes and began to follow Elora and Bianca.

Bianca returned to the hall where she had left Hunter. He was still unconscious. Since healing magic was out of the question she unclipped a small vile that was attached to her belt. Inside was a watery fluid that resembled green tea. Carefully Bianca dripped some of the healing potion into the worst of Hunter's wounds. She then tilted his head back and poured the rest into his mouth. The cheetah awoke with a start, causing the others to jump, and began gagging.

"YUCK; tastes… like I just… spit up a HAIRBALL!" He said between gags. Everyone sighed with relief, Hunter was okay.

Spyro could only guess what was going on upstairs. The ceiling of the basement had been shaking violently with the stone beasts landings, but now everything was quiet until murmurs from the prisoners arose. He jumped slightly when the cell door opened. It was Aneliea. Before he could say anything she spoke.

"Gnorc wants to see you, Spyro. Don't worry; I think your friends are alright." Spyro walked warily forward. He thought that this could be his chance to find Rali escape and find his other friends. He went with Aneliea quietly. Spyro was lead up a few stairs and down halls. The smell of the gnorc became stronger and stronger as they grew closer and closer to the main chamber. What Spyro saw next made his eyes widen in shock. It was Gnorc sitting upon his mighty throne. He was nearly three times bigger than Gnasty ever was. Spyro knew that gnorcs couldn't get that big without magic.

"What do you want from me?" Spyro growled once he regained his composer.

"Jumping right to the matter at hand," Gnorc said in his deep, booming voice. "You are well aware of the worlds that are in danger, Spyro, I am sure of that. I also know that you want to save them. In order to do that, the one who tore the barriers must come to justice and be destroyed. I want you to join me, Spyro, and kill Shadow, the one who tore the barriers." Gnorc was about to say something else when Spyro cut him off.

"No way will I ever join you!" He roared. "How could I trust you?" Gnorc glared down at the small dragon.

"Join me! Help me kill that wretched Shadow! He's the one who caused all of this. Don't you want him dead too? " He said with anger rising in his voice. Spyro only growled at Gnorc.

"I've been his slave for far too long. It's time that I got my freedom and my revenge!" Gnorc rose from his throne with his massive club in hand. A twist of dark-light appeared in front of Gnorc causing him to stumble back into his throne.

"S-shadow!" Gnorc stammered.

"Been my slave for far too long huh?" The black dragon said as he turned to face the Gnorc.

"Well then it's time for you to be retired." He said with no emotion. Shadow stood on his hind legs and his claws glowed with dark-light. With a grin Shadow raised his glowing claws into the air. A hoarse roar ripped from his throat and Gnorc erupted into black flames. The gnorc thrashed and bellowed in pain until he was nothing more than a pile of ashes.

Shadow turned slowly to face Spyro and Anelia who stared at him with their eyes wide. It took a moment, but Spyro recognized him. It was the same dragon from the dream he had recently.

"The dumb beast didn't know I could read minds." Shadow said coolly before he was slowly enveloped in dark-light.

"Wait!" Spyro demanded. If Shadow was the one who caused all of this mess then he had to be stopped, but before Spyro could reach him Shadow disappeared in a twist of dark-light. A frown spread across Spyro's face. Shadow had to be stopped, he thought.

The thin metal collar around Anelia's neck unsnapped and fell to the floor with a light clang. It took a moment for her to realize that she was no longer under Gnorc's control. She looked over to the purple dragon standing a few feet away from her who was trying to figure out what just happened.

"You should go and find your friends." Anelia said causing Spyro to snap out of his train of thought.

"The green one is on the second floor of the basement." She said. Spyro nodded and watched as the blue dragon unfurled her wings and took flight. Footsteps sounded from the main hall as Anelia disappeared out a large window. Spyro turned to see his friends enter into the main chamber. Happiness and relief swelled within him to see that his friends were alright.

"What happened to you?" Ember asked as she threw her arms around his neck. Spyro mumbled something about not hugging him too tight because of his wounds. Ember quickly let him go and waited for him to tell what happened.

"It's pretty fuzzy, but those shadow things captured me and Rali. They knocked me out and threw me into one of the storage rooms downstairs. That's where they are keeping the people locked up. Then we heard these loud booms coming from upstairs."

"We had some trouble getting in here." Elora added.

"Nothing we couldn't handle though." Hunter said with a grin.

"Oh," Spyro said before continuing. "Then this blue Earth dragon came and let me out. She took me to the gnorc that was here. He asked me if I would join him in killing his master Shadow. Of course I refused. Then Shadow himself showed up and burned him to death." Spyro nodded towards the pile of ashes on the throne. "Shadow is a dragon and he doesn't look much older than me." Spyro's friends looked at him for a moment trying to make sense of his story.

"So you were captured by the Gnorc in order to help him kill his master?" Hunter asked.

"Yep; the gnorc also said that Shadow was the one who tore the barriers. I tried to stop him, but he got away."

"We should go and free the others." Bianca suggested. "But before we do I should give you some of this healing potion. Those slash wounds look pretty bad." Bianca grabbed another vile of healing potion from her belt and dripped some of the liquid onto Spyro's shoulder wounds. She then handed the vile to Spyro.

"Don't drink it!" Hunter warned. "It tastes like cat vomit, and I know cat vomit. It's horrible!" Bianca frowned at the cheetah. "Now if you didn't drink the potion where would you be? Still dragging along down the hall to get here I'd say!" Bianca turned back to the purple dragon. "I'll admit that it tastes really bad, but it'll give you a large boost of energy." Spyro pinched his nostrils and gulped the green liquid down and immediately began to gag.

Ralicamur lay curled up in a dark corner of one of the storage rooms. His eyes were wide as they darted back and forth to the faces of the people kept there with him. They didn't trust him as they never saw a dragon like him before. He didn't like them very much either and kept away from them. When the banging was going on upstairs he thought the whole building was going to collapse on him, but when the banging stopped he knew he was a safe for a little longer. The sound of footsteps from outside greeted his ears causing him to jolt up. The other prisoners became alert as well. They peeked through the small door window, but it was too small to give a good view range. Moments later they could hear shouts coming from the halls causing Rali to feel cold with fear. The shouts continued, but then the green dragon realized that they were cheers. The other prisoners down the hall were being freed. He could see figures making their way down the hall towards his storage room; they were his friends. Rali and the other prisoners stood back as Spyro broke the lock on the door with a strong charge attack. The door swung open flooding the small room in light. The others wasted no time in getting out of the small room. Rali was the last to make his way out.

"We're glad that you're alright." Elora said to the green dragon. Rali was glad to see them all again. For a moment during his containment, he thought that he might never see them again. He wasn't sure what he was captured for, but the young dragon knew that nothing good would happen to him if he hadn't been freed.

The sun was beginning to dip behind the horizon turning the sky into different shades of oranges, pinks, and reds. The Cloud people were busily, but cautiously, trying to clean up the mess that the gnorc and his beasts left behind. The magicians had regained their trusty wands, but their magic was limited and unpredictable because of the barrier tear. It left them with having to move much of the heavier objects and debris by hand.

Spyro and his friends were resting on a small hill near the main temple. They were eating some bread and dried fruit as they watched Bianca prepare to close the barrier. She had asked for the help of Cloud Temples most skilled wizards to aid her since she wasn't that experienced with using such large amounts of magic at once. She was conversing with the wizards on the best way to arrange to orbs and where exactly to set up to get the best effect. It was difficult to pinpoint the rip's exact location since the magic compass still hadn't stopped spinning wildly. They group of wizards agreed that the center of the city would be the best place to set up the orbs. It was just about dark when Bianca and the wizards were done setting up the orbs in front of the main temple that was in the center of the city. One wizard was just finishing writing runes on the ground using a piece of chalk. The wizard stood up and gave a short nod to the other signaling that they could begin. They had gotten the omni-pocket from Spyro and proceeded to place orbs on the ground in the shape of a six pointed star along the lines of chalk with the circle of runes. Bianca got the impression that these people had done something like this before as she watched them work. They didn't seem to have any doubts at all about what they were doing or where things should be placed. Again one of the wizards went over the spell's chant with Bianca to make sure that she had it memorized. It wasn't complicated, but one word mustn't be left out or the spell could fail. Then Bianca took her place in front of one of the star's points. The five other wizards took their places at their star points, but before they began two of the wizards switched spots. All six of them got their wands at the ready and held them out over the star points. They began to chant in harmony. Their wands slowly began to glow with a golden light. Before long the runes began to glow with the same golden light along with the chalk lines. The light of the runes began to swirl in clockwise motion. The orbs began to glow as well. They began to shine so brightly that all of the observers had to squint. With a sudden upward motion the wizards had their wands pointing at the star dotted sky. The shining light from the orbs surged upward toward the stars in a steady glowing beam. The light seemed to rise forever until it suddenly collided with the barrier causing waves of light to radiate outward like ripples in a pool. The light cascaded down to the horizon covering the whole sky and bathing the world in a gentle green light. People all around Avalar watched the light with awe, horror, curiosity, or hostility as the sky was covered with the green light. The orbs' light slowly faded, but the green sky remained for a few seconds more until plain night sky was visible once again.

The magicians had stopped chanting now. Bianca sunk to her knees in relief and exhaustion; her job here was finally done. Hunter walked over to Bianca and helped her to her feet.

The night was more restful knowing that the barrier around Avalar was closed.

* * *

The banished Elders had returned to their island to plan what to do with the two remaining gem pieces and how to take over the Realms. Genus had claimed his gem piece and his youth and power were restored. Each of the banished Elders wore their gem pieces around their necks attached to silver necklaces. They stood around a wooden table in the largest of the five cabins.

"Do you think that Menga will show?" Clenten asked staring at the gem pieces on the table in front of him.

"He should; he can't resist the chance for revenge forever. He'll show." Gyra replied.

"What we should be focusing on is gathering enough forces in order to claim the Dragon Realms." Genus said.

"It would be easier if we had Menga and Dark though." Clenten stated.

"We don't need Dark. He walked out on us when we needed him once before. What makes you think that he won't do it again?" Genus snarled.

"But he is the true master of dark magic. His powers would be a great asset to us." Gyra said.

"We can do without him!" Genus growled. He wasn't going to change his mind about the deserter.

"It was his fault that we had to put Red in his place. If Dark hadn't walked out that fool wouldn't have gotten any power and wouldn't have caused the problems that he did." There wasn't much the others could say. Red was powerful, but he set out to get revenge on his own causing the Dragon Realms and Dragon Kingdom to go on high alert. That caused the plans the banished Elders had come up with to be postponed.

"Enough about Dark and Red; we have to figure out where we're going to get an army from." Genus said returning to a previous subject.

"There are plenty of gnorcs left in the Junkyard as well as in the Kingdom. That would make a sizable chunk of the army." Gyra suggested.

"But we need even stronger troops. Dragons would be good to fill in the gaps. We could go around undercover and seek out the ones who oppose the current rulers. Shadow's beasts would also be good in hit-and-run tactics since they are fast and can be very stealthy." Genus said.

"The gnorcs would be loyal if given the right incentive, but how can we trust our own. We know what our own kind can be capable of." Clenten said.

"We can work our way around that. It won't be that big of an issue." Gyra said with a smug look on her face.

"How do you suppose we work around it then?" Genus asked looking at the blue dragoness.

"When Menga shows and takes his gem piece we can use the remainder as a power source."

"A power source for what?" Clenten asked wonder what a power source had to do with keeping the loyalty of their soon-to-be troops.

"I can create a machine that will control the dragon troops. They will be fitted with a band, collar, or whatever we come up with, that can control them. I can use the gem to power the machine rendering them completely incapable of disobeying an order." Gyra's eyes shifted from Genus to Clenten looking for approval in their faces. Genus gave nothing but a snort.

"It sounds like it could work, but how long will it take to build something like this?" Clenten asked.

"It would take a lot of time, maybe even years to amass the amount of troops needed to have a good army. That would be plenty of time to create the machine and work out any glitches." Gyra said with a slight grin.

"This better work Gyra." Genus said in a slightly menacing tone.

"Of course it'll work, my dear." She replied with a smile ignoring Genus's hostility.


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Return to the Dragon Realms

The sun was just over the horizon when the seven heroes were packed and prepared to leave. The Temples people had given the provisions for the rest of their journey the night before.

"Can someone remind me why we had to get up so early?" Flame said trying to muffle a yawn.

"The faster we can get a move on the faster we can save our world." Spyro said. Flame only groaned. He wanted to save his world, but couldn't it wait just a few more minutes.

Spyro and his friends were on their way to the portal that led to Winter Tundra when they were stopped by several wizards.

"We wanted to give you a parting gift." One of the wizards said. In his hand he held seven gold necklaces which had small pendants. Within the pendant was a miniature orb which glinted in the morning light. The wizard handed each of the travelers a necklace. They made sure to craft and extra large one for Rali.

"The necklaces will protect you from the effects of the barrier rip in your world." The wizard said before stepping back allowing another wizard to come forward. In his hand was a scroll tied closed with a golden ribbon. He handed it to Bianca.

"This scroll contains the spell we used to close the barrier here. You can use it to close the barrier around the dragon world. Be sure to follow it to the letter." The wizard said before stepping back. Spyro and his friends thanked the wizards for their gifts and were about to leave when the first wizard called out to them again.

"Just be wary that the necklaces won't last forever. They will start to work when you get to the land where the magic is most disrupted. Take care not to delay for after a time their light will begin to fade." The travelers heeded the wizard's words and said their goodbyes. One at a time the travelers stepped through the portal to Winter Tundra.

Winter Tundra was much different than when Spyro and his companions had left. The snow had receded greatly and many of the buildings were visible now. The sun shone brightly casting its warm rays onto the land melting the snow further.

From the Could Temples portal the group headed straight to the super portal that went to Dragon Shores. The large portal was still inactive, but with a quick spell from Bianca the portal glowed to life. The image of Dragon Shores appeared in the portal and without hesitation Bianca stepped through with the others following behind her. Once everyone had been transported Bianca took the magic compass out of a pouch that was attached to her belt. The compass's needle spun slowly for a moment until it settled pointing in the northeast direction.

"Before we go close the barrier I think that we should check in with the Elders. They are still waiting for me to return with the orbs." Spyro said as he headed off in the direction of the balloonist. On the way they passed the small theme park that was built on the shore. It was deserted. There wasn't a soul in the park. That was very unusual for that time of year. Normally the park would be pretty full, but there wasn't any except for a few seagulls that sat atop the rollercoaster rails. Spyro wondered if the park was empty because of the barrier tear. That was strange because the park didn't run on magic. It really wasn't that important a thing to dwell on; Spyro's mind turned to more important matters.

Before long the dock where the hot air balloons were used was in sight. Only a few balloons were remaining. A creature who wore a large, scruffy, red scarf was laid out on the dock with a rolled up blanket under his head. He was snoring loudly.

"At least the balloonist is still here." Spyro commented to himself.

The balloonist wasn't much larger than an average gnorc, and he was shaped like one. He wore a leather cap with a pair of goggles on his head. He wore a light blue shirt, brown pants, and large boots. The red scarf covered most of the balloonist's face. No one really knew what kind of creatures the balloonists were. They weren't dragons for sure. Most assumed them to be some tan kind of gnorc that could speak their language.

Spyro nudged the balloonist on the shoulder to wake him up, but he didn't do anything but grunt and roll over.

"Hey, wake up. We want to use one of your balloons." Spyro said hoping to wake the sleeping balloonist. The balloonist mumbled something incomprehensible before slowly rising to a sitting position. He groggily looked from Spyro to the others and then taking a quick glance at a balloon. He then promptly lay back down and went to sleep again.

"Wake up!" Spyro shouted feeling a surge of annoyance.

"We're closed for the day, come back later." The balloonist said in a gravely voice.

"We need a balloon! This is an emergency!" Spyro exclaimed. The balloonist rolled over and opened an eye looking from him to his friends and then back to Spyro.

"None of you look hurt; I don't see any fires, no monsters, and no emergency." The balloonist said.

"C'mon Spyro, we don't have time for him." Ember's voice caused him to look to his left. His friends were already in a balloon and were waiting for him.

"HEY! Get out of there! What don't you people get about the balloons being closed?" The balloonist's voice was slightly tinged with fear as he yelled. He was standing now, but that didn't stop Spyro from dashing into the basket of the balloon. Rali cut the rope holding the balloon to the dock with his teeth and watched as the dock got smaller and smaller.

The balloonist was yelling something, but no one listened to him. The balloon drifted upward steadily in the direction of the Artisan home-world.

"That was very strange." Spyro said to no one in particular. Normally the balloonists would be glad to let anyone use their balloons, but in the case the balloonist clearly didn't want to let anyone ride. Spyro pondered the balloonist's strange behavior for a few more moments until he found that he couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation. It didn't matter much since they got their balloon ride anyway.

It was nearly fifteen minutes before the balloon touched down on the Artisan dock. The passengers exited one by one and headed off toward the Artisan temple. As they walked Spyro noticed that the town was strangely quiet. Something didn't feel quite right. There were a few inhabitants walking around going about their lives, but not nearly as much as their normally would have been.

The group made their way up the stone steps of the temple that led to its enormous doors. Spyro pushed the door open which gave a low moaning noise. Spyro walked slowly into the cool building looking for the Elder. He called Nestor's name, but go no response at first. Someone's voice suddenly sounded from the hall to his right causing him to jump slightly.

"You're back!" The voice said. Spyro turned to see Conerr walked towards him with renewed hope sparkling in his eyes. "We were beginning to worry that you wouldn't return in time." The Elder's son said.

"I ran into a few bumps along the way, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle." Spyro said with a slightly smug tone.

"Come, much has happened in the few days you were gone." Conerr said his voice slightly tinged with sadness. A strange feeling welled in the pit of Spyro's stomach. He glanced back at his friends before following Conerr down the right hall to a small chamber; Spyro's friends followed closely behind. The chamber wasn't as elaborately decorated as the main halls and chambers. It only had a few furnishings and one statue of to the side. The ceiling wasn't as high either.

In the corner of the room at a desk sat Nestor. Spyro was slightly shocked at how old the dragon appeared. It was as if he was drained of all his energy and aged many years in just a few days; mourning had taken its toll on him.

"I'm glad that you've returned Spyro. The others… were growing doubtful that you'd make it." Nestor said in a quiet voice. As the purple dragon moved closer he could see the sorrow in the older dragon's eyes, a deep sadness.

"What happened?" Spyro asked slowly. He was afraid of what he might hear. Nestor looked away from the purple dragon and swallowed.

"Cosmos is dead." Nestor said past the lump in his throat. A cold feeling washed over Spyro. His mind whirled as it tried feebly to absorb the news. The young dragon's jaw clenched as he could feel his throat tightening. He heard Ember gasp, and Flame growl. Elora asked quietly how.

"It was the Banished Elders." Conerr said trying to fight against the anger that was building within him. Spyro and his friends each found a place to sit so they could hear the story. Nestor didn't talk much and left most of the telling to his son.

"They took the gem we were working on and fled leaving a total of six dead and dozens injured." Conerr said. Spyro took a deep breath as his mind absorbed the news. He knew that Nestor and Cosmos were close, like brothers. Spyro also had his own memories about the Magic Crafters Elder. Rage and sadness warred against each other inside him. He wanted to rip the banished Elders apart with his own claws, but at the same time he wanted to sit there and mourn.

"Did you bring the orbs?" Nestor asked suddenly after a moment of silence.

"Yes, I have them." Bianca answered unclipping the omni-pocket from her belt. She handed the small bag to Nestor who peered inside to see the shimmering green and gold of the Avalarian orbs. His face brightened and the years placed on him by his mourning seemed to lift causing him to look more like his old self.

"Yes, very well done!" He said to Spyro and the others.

"I also have the spell the close the barrier with." The young sorceress said.

"Really?" Conerr asked.

"Yep, all we have to do is find the barrier tear and we'll be well on our way." Bianca said.

"I knew I could trust you Spyro, to save us." Nestor said looking at the purple dragon. "And his friends as well because I know that without you all, our little hero wouldn't be where his is would he?" Nestor said looking into the faces of each of Spyro's friends. "Now you must hurry, there isn't much more time."

* * *

Back at Dragon Shores the balloonist paced back and forth across the deck fear and worry shining in his blue eyes. 

"This is bad… bad, bad, and bad." He said in a slightly shaking voice. He was supposed to stall Spyro and his companions for as long as possible. Keep them at the Shores. He should've just popped the balloons. He wasn't that smart he thought to himself.

"I'll run. That's what I'll do! I'll run to where he can't find me. I'll bury myself in a hole and hide there until Spyro takes care of hi—" As the balloonist turned to run off of the deck his sentence was cut short as a spark of dark-light formed into Shadow in front of him.

"Bury yourself huh? Making your own grave…" The dragon said with no emotion. His eyes glowed with blood lust as he stared down the shaking balloonist.

"I-I swear I tried to stop them!" The balloonist said quickly backing away slowly. Shadow advanced on the balloonist with his fangs bared.

"I-I tried!" Tears began streaming from the balloonists eyes. He was going to die and he knew it. There was no place to run since he was cornered on the dock. He wouldn't have been able to escape Shadow anyway.

"Please!" The balloonist's words fell on deaf ears. With cat-like agility Shadow pounced onto the creature digging his claws into his flesh. Shadow ripped the scarf off of the balloonist revealing a slightly doggish face with a large nose and short muzzle. The balloonist's cries of pain were cut short when Shadow sunk his fangs into his throat.

When the balloonist ceased to move Shadow released the corpse from his jaws. A strange feeling washed over him. He couldn't fathom why he just killed the balloonist. It was like back in Cloud Temples. He didn't know why he killed some of the inhabitants. He knew he killed Gnorc because he was a threat. Shadow studied the blood on his claws for a moment and then looked to the corpse until he felt sick to his stomach.

"What's wrong with me?" He asked himself. He had a feeling that it had something to do with the dark magic he used, but it was ingrained within him. He couldn't get rid of it or stop using it. Shadow teleported away from the Shores to a nearby stream where he proceeded to wash the blood off of himself. He looked into his reflection in the water. He didn't recognize the animal staring back at him.

After studying his reflection for a moment longer Shadow waded out of the water and shook himself. He teleported back to his the abandoned warehouse. Shadow landing on top of the warehouse's dirty roof and sat down staring out at the setting sun. He could feel the land's magic draining faster everyday. Some of the smaller creatures such as gnorcs were really feeling the effects of the barrier tear. Many of them were created by Gnasty who transformed gems into his minions. Since the magic was now unstable some of the magically created gnorcs could no longer hold their form and reverted back into gems. Shadow found this disappointing since there weren't as many gnorcs to practice and/or take his frustrations out on.

* * *

Spyro and his friends made their way back to the Artisan balloon docks. Marco, the Artisan balloonist, sat on a smaller dock looking out at the sea that separated the Artisan land and the Magic Crafter land. When he heard footsteps behind him he turned around to see Bianca and the others approach him.

"Ah, it's good to see you again Spyro… and friends." Marco said unfamiliar with the purple dragon's companions.

"It's been a while since I've had any travelers. People have been staying in their houses."

"Why?" Elora asked.

"Aside from the barrier tear, the people are afraid of the banished Elders. The Elders have already warned the people of their return and what happened in Magic Crafters. Now people are too scared to travel anymore."

"I see." The faun said.

"Let me get you all a balloon." Marco said before scampering off down the dock. A few moments later he returned with one of the largest balloons he had capable of holding nearly fifteen people. This was needed due to Rali's large size. Once the balloon landed the travelers climbed in and Marco got out. He waved goodbye to Spyro and his companions as they swiftly drifted off.

"Good luck!" He called out to them.

By now the Artisan home world was nothing but a green dot on the horizon. To the left of the balloon the sandy color of the Peace Keeper land was visible. Somewhere far ahead of the lay the Beast Maker land and a bit farther away from there way the Dragon Junkyard, their destination.

"Are you sure that's where the barrier tear is?" Ember asked as she peered over the baskets edge looking out across the sea.

"Yep; that's where the compass is pointing." Bianca said absently. She was worried about having to perform the barrier closing spell on her own, and she wasn't sure if she could do it. She fished the spell scroll out from her small pack and unfurled it. Her eyes pored over the thick paper as she tried to memorize the spell. Bianca hardly noticed as Hunter sat down next to her slight concern showing in his blue eyes.

"Worried?" He asked quietly.

"A little…" Bianca answered.

"Don't worry too much, it can cause premature wrinkles." He said with a small grin on his face. Bianca looked at him glad to have him with her. She leaned onto his shoulder and gave a small sigh.

Bianca wasn't the only one who had things on her mind. Spyro gripped the rim of the basket tightly as he looked out towards the Dragon Junkyard. He knew that he would have to face Shadow, and it wasn't going to be an easy fight. He had never faced anyone with dark magic as powerful as his before and it cause fear to settle in the pit of his stomach. The black dragon disturbed him, the way he just incinerated Gnorc, those wild yellow eyes. Also the fact that he had a dream about him before they met left his mind reeling. Spyro knew that he would also have to do something about the banished Elders, but they weren't an immediate threat right now. Just the mere thought of them and how they killed Cosmos caused a small snarl to cross his face. A voice broke him from his troubled thoughts.

"It'll be alright Spyro. We've faced bigger and badder before." Sparx said seemingly able to read the purple dragon's thoughts.

"I know, but… it'll be different this time. I can feel it."

About half an hour passed before the balloon touched down onto the muddy bank of Junkyard Lake. Since the compass was pointing off into the direction of the forest there wasn't a need to land on the portal platform in the middle of the lake. The heroes disembarked from the balloon's basket and tied it to a sturdy old tree. The magical turbulence was stronger here, but the charms from the wizards in Cloud Temples kept the disturbance from bothering the group. The magic compass's needle began to shake, but it continued to point in relatively the same direction. As usual Bianca took the lead heading towards the thick forest of the Dragon Junkyard.

The sun was sank lower and lower into the sky as the day wore on. The travelers were tired and their feet ached. As usually it was Flame that complained first, but everyone was too tired to ignore him and agreed that it was time to take a break. The group searched their packs for the food that they had brought with them and began to eat ravenously.

"So… do we have a battle plan?" Flame said between mouthfuls of bread. "I doubt that the tear will be left unguarded for us to go and fix."

"How will we have a plan if we don't know what we're up against?" Elora said after a gulp of water.

"I think that it's a safe bet to assume that we'll be up against those shadow beasts again." Hunter said.

"God I hate those things." Flame said with annoyance.

"Well… at least we know how to beat them now." Ember said. The group stayed quiet for a few moments longer as they finished their meal.

"I'm sure Shadow will be there." Spyro said in a serious tone.

"That black dragon you were talking about?" Rali asked.

"Yeah; out of all the enemies we may face he'll probably be the most dangerous. I saw what he could do." The group remembered the pile of ashes on the throne in the main temple of Cloud Temples. They gulped.

"I don't think that we have anything resistant to dark magic do we?" Spyro asked. The group shook their heads no. With a sigh Spyro stood and said that they should get a move on.

The trek continued deeper into the darkening forest. The sun was nearly half way below the horizon. If the group didn't make it to the barrier tear tonight they would have to set up camp.

Shadow could hear the approach of the enemy. He could hear the sounds of their voices and the steps of their feet as he pressed his ear against the cold ground. He spread his psychic power so he could get a general idea as to how close they were. They were closer than they thought. Shadow rose stiffly and looked around the dark warehouse. Shadows covered nearly every wall. The black dragon's eye's blazed white and a blast of dark-light radiated from his body throughout the building. Shadow's returned to normal as he panted slightly. Red eyes began forming in the shadows of the building. At first there were only a dozen pairs, and then more and more appeared. Soon it seemed that the walls were covered in nearly a hundred pairs of eyes and were writhing and undulating with the bodies of many shadow beasts. Their black bodies oozed from the walls like dripping ink and gathered down on the floor. They stood in a semi-circle around their master waiting for orders. He told them to wait.


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Darkness

"Bianca, how much farther do you think it'll be before we reach the barrier tear?" Ember asked.

"I'm not sure. The compass hasn't been showing any wild spinning." The rabbit replied.

"That's strange because I can feel the magic growing more turbulent." Elora said. Normally the closer they got to the barrier tear the more wild the compass's needle would swing. So far it had been maintaining its slight twitching, but it still pointed in a definite northwest direction.

"If we don't get there soon we'll have to camp out." Hunter said.

"I really don't want to sleep in this place." Rali said quietly. The thick, dark forest gave him the chills, and it wasn't just the turbulent magic. The bare trees stretched up overhead looking like long spindly claws reaching down. The forest also looked as if it could conceal something dangerous behind its thick trees waiting to pounce.

"I know that this place is pretty creepy, but we don't have much of a choice. I doubt we'll find a hotel or something out here." Flame's words didn't make Rali feel any better. For a split second Rali could feel something staring at him. He whipped his head around to see nothing but the dimming forest behind him.

"What's wrong?" Ember asked noticing Rali's sudden movement.

"Nothing, it felt like something was watching me, but nothing's there." Ember looked back too, but she didn't see anything either. With a shrug they continued on.

It was pretty much dark when the compass's needle began spinning wildly out of control. Bianca studied the compass under the light of a lantern.

"I think we're here." She said. The group looked up into the sky only to see faintly shining stars. Up ahead of them was an abandoned warehouse that had a cleared lot in front of it. It would make a good place to set up camp. Just as the group was about to walk down the small hill towards the cleared space something slinked out of the warehouse through its partially open door. The shape moved slowly until it was standing in the middle of the lot. A pair of glowing yellow eyes peered out from the shadow of the building sizing up the intruders. With a jolt Spyro recognized the eyes burning through him. It was Shadow. Spyro could barely make out the other dragon's black body from the shadows around him.

"It's him." Spyro growled to his friends. Shadow raised his head.

"It took you less time than I expected for you and your companions to get here Spyro." Shadow said in a casual tone. Spyro wondered how Shadow could know his name, but then he remembered what he had said during their previous encounter: Shadow could read minds. Just the thought of someone flipping through his memories and thoughts like an open book made the purple dragon's scales crawl.

"I can't let you close the barrier Bianca. It would upset Them if I did." Shadow said. Bianca said nothing, but she and the others wondered who Shadow was referring to.

"You should know that we won't heed your warning Shadow so you might as well save your breath!" Spyro said in a challenging tone.

"How right you are." As soon as the sentence left Shadow's mouth his shadow beasts began emerging from the darkness of the warehouse. Their glowing red eyes seemed to illuminate the area around them. Even though the sun was down their fangs and claws still shown white in the blackness. Spyro and his companions stared in horror at how many there were. There were far too many for them to take on by themselves. Fear rooted them to the spot. Despair began to swallow Spyro; they couldn't possibly challenge that many. Spyro had never truly feared death before, and now he felt as if he were staring it in the face.

"Knowing that you would challenge me I have prepared." Shadow's voice arose from the sea of writhing beasts his yellow eyes still clearly visible.

"That is unless you know that you can't win and back down like the sensible dragon I know you are. You wouldn't risk your life and the life of your friends to fight an utterly useless battle would you? I guess the Realms will suffer and be overwhelmed with Their darkness then wouldn't it? And it's all because you couldn't win one battle."

"You talk too much Shadow!" Spyro roared. "You may think you know me, but you don't know a thing about me! No matter the odds I _never_ back down as long as something threatens my world." Shadow only shook his head at the purple dragon's words. A look of serious regret crossed his face for a brief moment. Something inside of Shadow didn't want to kill Spyro, but the feeling was quickly replaced with an intense bloodlust. A malicious grin spread across his face; he would enjoy this fight. Shadow gave the signal for the beasts to attack. The cacophony of their roars shook the forest as they thundered towards the heroes. With their weapons at the ready the heroes braced themselves as they stared down the stampede of shadow beasts.

"Looks like you're not going to be the only hero this time Spyro." Flame said with a mocking tone.

"You sound as though we're going to win." Spyro replied.

"Of course we are. The heroes _always _win." Flame replied with a grin, but behind it Spyro could see the fear in his friend.

Rali couldn't even begin to fathom why they were still standing here. It was going against everything Rali knew, everything his instincts said, every fiber of his being, but something kept him rooted to the spot, something other than fear. It must've been seeing his friends stand strong against nearly a hundred beasts that gave him the strength to resist running away. If he didn't help fight the beasts, and they lost then he wouldn't be able to return home. He fixated his mind on returning home, and the only way to do that was to overcome this last obstacle even though it was like his very worst nightmare. But one thing differentiated it from being a nightmare: he wasn't alone.

* * *

Gyra, Clenten, and Genus sat around the seer orb in one of their smaller cabins. They each looked intently into the crystal as they watched a battle unfold. A massive wave of blackness seemed to pour over the seven heroes devouring them completely. A break in the mass of black showed that the heroes stood firm against the onslaught dispatching shadow beasts left and right. They all waited until the moment the beasts were solid which was when they attacked. Then they struck. Arrows pierced through heads, flames engulfed dark bodies, strikes of lightning zapped through chests. Beams of light penetrated the darkness of the shadows. It seemed as though the heroes might stand a chance against Shadow, but when one beast fell two took its place.

"Quite a hardy bunch they are." Clenten said.

"That Spyro and his friends, they never give up no matter the odds, do they?" Gyra said as she stared at the raging battle. She glanced over at Genus who sat still like an ominous statue, an unreadable look carved onto his face.

"Shadow better not loose or else we'll lose the opportunity to take the Realms while it's at its weakest." Genus growled.

"I trained him in nearly everything I know." Clenten said with pride. "Coupled with the dark powers he has, he'll be unstoppable."

"And he'll also be unpredictable. You know how the dark magic affects the minds of those too inexperience to control it." Gyra said. "He'll be a liability once this is all over and we'll have to deal with him."

"I know." Clenten said. "It's a shame that it has to come to that. He was such an eager student." Clenten's voice was tinged with sadness. They watched as Shadow loomed around the very edges of the battle, stalking like a tiger waiting to pounce. One by one his beasts fell, banished back into the darkness from which they came.

* * *

Spyro's claws ripped through a beast's head just before it could land a heavy blow. The monster screamed as its ink-black blood dripped to the ground before it faded back into nothingness. The beasts numbers were falling, although slowly. It was from a hundred to about sixty-five. However the heroes were tiring fast, the onslaught seemed to keep coming and would continue on forever.

A heavy thud against Spyro's head sent him rolling across the ground. Sparx changed from blue to green. Stunned Spyro struggled to stand, his vision blurred. He heard someone call his name, but he couldn't place who. He looked up to see the glistening fangs of a beast over him, but his mind couldn't process the danger fast enough. A burst of flames sent the beast crumpling to the ground engulfed in fire. Spyro looked to his right to see Flame running to his side.

"You alright?" He asked quickly, out of breath. Spyro regained his senses and nodded his head. Flame disappeared into the fray of the battle again.

"Gotta watch my back." Spyro said before striking another beast down.

Blasts of aurora beam erupted from Ralicamur's jaws. The concentrated beams of light seemed to be the most effective against the beasts, but Rali couldn't use his breath power much. It drained him of his energy rapidly if he used it too much. Another blast tore through a beast killing it with one hit. All thoughts left the young dragon's mind. He was fighting for his life, his very existence; nothing else mattered as his self preservation instinct completely took over. For a moment though, he thought about the fact that _he _was fighting and someone else wasn't fighting for him. It empowered him like the time back in Cloud Temples where he was surrounded and his friends were too far away to help him. Rali's heavy tail came down on a shadow beast crushing it, banishing it.

Shadow watched as the heroes fought. They lasted a lot longer than he had expected. He would have to take care of things himself, or They would be angry with him if he didn't stop the heroes. With a burst of speed Shadow launched himself into the air with a powerful leap. He landed in the middle of the raging battle. Immediately the beasts leapt away as if Shadow's landing produced as shockwave that pushed them back.

Confused with the beast's sudden move back the heroes stood battered and panting in the middle of the small clearing. They turned to see Shadow standing in the rough middle of them.

"You've lasted too long." He said calmly. "Now it's time for you all to die!" The black dragon roared as he launched himself at the nearest target: Ember. With her wits still about her Ember leapt out of the black dragon's path. Shadow turned and lunged at her again. A heavy blow to his side knocked Shadow off his feet. He quickly looked up to see the person who charged him. It was Spyro. With a snarl Shadow loosed a stream of dark-light from his body aimed at the purple dragon. Not having enough time to dodge the magic attack Spyro threw up his wings in front of himself using his wing-shield ability. The dark-light collided with the young hero and got thrown back. Before Shadow could attack again arrows whizzed past his head. He narrowly dodged the next arrow. Shadow leapt backward, mental crosshairs honing in on Hunter. Hunter did the same, an explosive arrow aimed at the black dragon. The arrow was sent sailing through the air and exploded on impact creating a cloud of dust and dirt. When the dust finally settled it revealed a shimmering dark-light barrier in front of Shadow. The dragon stood unaffected by the arrow.

"If this is the best you can do then… you'll all fall!" The barrier dissipated and Shadow disappeared in a twist of dark-light. The heroes whipped their heads around trying to spot their enemy. Shadow was no where to be seen. The shadow beasts stood like statues in a ring around the group unmoving.

"Where did he go?" Spyro asked under his breath. A thought pierced his mind, but it wasn't his own. _"Over here!" _It said as a blast of dark-light flashed from a nearby tree. Spyro barely had time to look around completely as a scream of pain tore through the air.

"HUNTER!" Bianca yelled as the cheetah fell to the ground unconscious. Bianca rushed over to the cheetah to see that he was still breathing, but a gapping wound was left in his shoulder and he was bleeding heavily. Thinking fast Bianca cast a quick healing spell on Hunter. It wouldn't completely heal the wound, but it would stop the bleeding.

As Bianca tended to Hunter the others formed a defensive ring around them. Without warning Shadow leapt from the tree and landed in front of the group and with a roar lunged for Flame. The red dragon braced himself and dodged the attack by mere inches leaving Shadow's flank open to attack. With a swift swing of his tail Flame sent Shadow reeling back in pain. Taking advantage of the moment Spyro charged the black dragon, but his horns only slashed through air. Shadow had teleported away again. He reappeared, diagonal to Rali. The Chinese dragon unleashed a blast of light from his jaws, but the beam was deflected by Shadow's dark-shield. Shadow's eyes blazed white as dark-light enveloped his body. With a roar Shadow released a blast of dark-light at the green dragon. Rali didn't have enough time to evade the attack and was sent flying backward. Rali hit the ground and tumbled a few times before coming to a stop. The young dragon's head pounded from the impact and slowly his vision faded to black.

Spyro and Flame both went after the black dragon and used their flame breath when they were in range. Shadow easily dodged the attack and counterattacked with a blast of dark-light. Spyro and Flame narrowly avoided the beam, but before they could attack again Shadow teleported away.

"Where is he now?" Flame asked under his breath.

"Behind you." A cold voice sounded that sent shivers down Flame's spine. Before he could turn a blast of dark-light collided with the red dragon. He fell to the ground unconscious. Spyro lunged for Shadow with his claws splayed. The black dragon leapt away with cat-like agility eyeing Spyro trying to anticipate his next move. Shadow's blazing yellow eyes glanced over at Elora for a split second. Again his body was enveloped with dark-light and he sent a blast towards the faun. Elora threw up he arms in front of herself in a futile attempt to shield herself, but there was a flash of purple and the dark-light beam never reached her. There was a thud behind her and she turned to see Spyro lying in the dirt struggling to get up.

"Spyro!" She yelled as she was about to run to him, but he stopped her short.

"Stay there with Bianca." He said his voice tinged with pain. "I'm fine." He lied. His vision blurred every now and then, but he could see Shadow advancing towards him. There was only a wild excitement and blood lust in the black dragon's eyes. Spyro gritted his teeth in a snarl as Shadow stood only a few feet away from him.

"You and your friends were no match for me." He said inching ever closer to Spyro. There was a quick but heavy blow from Shadow's tail against Spyro's head which knocked him back down to the ground. Dazed, Spyro didn't know why Shadow cried out in pain.

Shadow looked at his left hind leg to see a dagger sticking out of it, his blood trickling down. Elora had thrown the dagger in an attempt to strike Shadow in the head or chest, but her aim was off. With a snarl Shadow released a blast of dark-light at the faun.

"Nooo!" Spyro roared trying to stand as his friend was struck down. Shadow watched the faun fall before pulling the dagger out with his teeth and casting it aside.

"You'll pay!" Spyro snarled and loosed a jet of flames from his jaws. Shadow quickly put up his dark-shield protecting himself from the fire. Before Spyro could flame again Shadow pounced and pinned the purple dragon to the ground. He dug he claws into Spyro's shoulders causing him to growl with pain. Spyro tried to lift Shadow off him with his hind legs, but his strength was failing him. Sparx was no where to be seen.

Shadow parted his jaws and bared his fangs.

"This will be the end for you… hero." But before Shadow could clamp his jaws down around Spyro's throat an intense blast of white suddenly appeared illuminating the immediate area. Around the flash the shadow beasts that were too close were banished. A shape stepped out from the intense light that slowly faded. When the light was gone a dragon stood where the flash had been.

"M-master?!" Shadow stammered. The other dragon stepped forward towards Shadow and Spyro. Spyro turned his head to see who was coming. It was a black dragon with a pearl-white front side. His wings were golden and his wing membranes were the same color as his front. Charcoal grey horns and crest decorated the dragon's head along with a short grey beard. The dragon held as staff in one hand that had a light-gem and a dark-gem on opposite ends. The old dragon's piercing ice-blue eyes looked down at Shadow. The young black dragon stepped backward off of Spyro looking up at the old dragon with fear in his eyes. Shadow's mind raced.

"W-what are you doing here?" He asked in a shaky voice. The other black dragon said nothing as he slowly advanced towards Shadow with a cold look on his face. Shadow could sense the immense dark power radiating from the old dragon. Instinct told him that the old dragon was a threat and had to be stopped. With a snarl Shadow shot a beam of dark-light at the old dragon. Expecting the move the old dragon raised his staff in front of him and the beam of dark-light was absorbed into the dark-gem on the top of his staff.

"You should know by now that that won't work Shadow." The old dragon said in a calm voice. Shadow only snarled.

"Look at you, at what you've become; nothing more that a scared animal. The dark magic you have has torn you, it's eating away at you." The old dragon stepped around Spyro and walked towards Shadow who still backed away his blazing yellow eyes wide with fear.

"I should've known that even with Their blood in your veins that you still wouldn't have been able to handle your powers. You're still too young." The old dragon lifted his staff towards Shadow who remained rooted to the spot. The dark-gem end of the staff began to glow with dark-light. Shadow crumpled to the ground in pain. The old dragon ignored Shadow's growls and snarls as he concentrated. Slowly a dark-gem shard began to push through Shadow's forehead. Once the shard was completely out it was absorbed into the dark-gem on the old dragon's staff. Since it was removed with magic, taking the gem shard out of Shadow left no physical wound. The old dragon sighed as he looked down at Shadow who stopped writhing in pain. The old black dragon's ice blue eyes looked from Spyro to each of his friends then back to Spyro. The purple dragon only stared back in silence.

"What did you do to him?" He finally managed to say as he glanced at Shadow who lay motionless. The old dragon said nothing. A blast of white appeared behind him and the black dragon stepped in. The flash of light was gone and so was the dragon.

Spyro looked back to Shadow who still remained motionless. He wasn't sure that he was still alive until he could hear short rapid breaths coming from the black dragon. Footsteps sounded to Spyro's right causing him too look back around. Bianca was rushing around with what little healing potion she had left to stabilize her friends. A healing spell to heal the amount of wounds that each of them had accumulated would be a bit lengthy to set up and she didn't want her friends' conditions to get worse while she prepared. Finally she made it over to Spyro.

"I know it would be dumb to ask if you're okay." She said quietly to him as she examined his wounds.

"How are the others?" Spyro asked.

"They aren't doing too well. Rali has a badly sprained leg, Hunter, Flame, Elora have serious open wounds. Ember's helping me to take care of you all. There isn't that much I can do without all of the proper equipment." She said with despair beginning to rise within her.

"You've done a lot Bianca. Just think of where we would be without you." Spyro said as he struggled to his feet.

"Thanks." The sorceress said.

"Once everyone is well enough to get back to the balloon we're getting out of this dump." Spyro said.

"Sounds like a good plan to me." Bianca replied.

67


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: End of the Beginning

"Are you sure this is a good idea Spyro? He could still be dangerous." Elora said as she watched the Dream Weavers come and take Shadow away.

"We couldn't just leave him there to die." Spyro said. Spyro was now bandaged up like the rest of his friends. They were at the docks in the Artisan home-world. Bianca had closed the barrier around the dragon world successfully. Spyro had insisted that they bring Shadow back with them. He was under someone else's control and it wasn't his fault, was what Spyro said to justify his actions.

"I just hope that this won't come back to bite us." Flame said.

"You guys worry too much." Spyro said. The balloon with Shadow and the Dream Weavers lifted off and they set sail for their home-world. The Dream Weavers had taken him in order to repair Shadow's mind as best they could. His mind had been so warped from the dark magic that they weren't sure how much of it they could save. They would study his mind and then weave together the missing pieces while he slept in an effort to restore his sanity and his memories.

"Elder Cosmos's funeral is today." Ember said in a somber tone. "Do you think we should go and pay our respects?" She asked.

"We just got back. I don't really want to be around all of those grieving people right now." Spyro said looking down at his paws. The loss of one of the Elders still didn't completely register with him. It didn't feel like he was really gone; going to the funeral would only drive the fact home and Spyro didn't want to deal with it.

"Okay." Ember said quietly. There was silence among the group for a moment until Elora said that it was time the she, Hunter, and Bianca returned home. Everyone said their farewells to the Avalarians before they made their way to the super-portal.

"Well, what do we do now?" Flame asked.

"Relax I guess." Spyro said. He really wasn't sure what to do with himself now that the adventure was over. His wounds from Shadow hadn't fully healed despite Bianca's healing potion, and it bothered him when he walked. Resting would be the best thing to do. Spyro began to walk in the direction of his home with Ember, Flame, and Rali following behind.

* * *

"Gracia, now that Elder Cosmos has passed away, you may assume the role as the Magic Crafters Elder." Elder Nestor said. He stood at the head of a table within the Crafters temple. Around him were the other Elders along with Cosmos's family. They all looked on at a young dragoness. Her scales were a sea green color and her crest was a dark green, Gracia's wings were gold with blue wing-sails and her front side was a pearly white. She stood alone at the table end opposite of Nestor. Her fists were clenched tightly at her sides, a determined look on her face, but the pain of loosing her father still reflected in her eyes. 

"Do you feel that you can assume the responsibilities and powers of an Elder despite your inexperience? Or would you leave the position in the hands of another?" Elder Titan asked. Gracia looked down at her feet for a quick moment. Being Cosmos's only heir, there weren't any siblings she could give the position to. There was always her mother, but many felt that she lacked the abilities needed to be a good leader, and she didn't trust anyone else. Gracia knew that people looked at her with high expectations which put an enormous pressure on her. They all saw that she would be a capable Elder one day, or that's what they all said. But now she was faced with a life altering decision all too soon. She hadn't gone through all of the proper training yet.

"Gracia, this is your choice and your choice alone. We can't force you to do something that isn't in your heart. If you would like time to think about this, then we will let you. But a choice must be made within the week. A land cannot go without a leader for too long." Elder Nestor's words eased Gracia some.

The room went silent as they waited for Gracia's answer.

"I'll do it." She said in a loud but slightly shaky voice.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm ready to become the Crafter's Elder." She said in a steady voice this time.

"Very well then…." Nestor said. "The ceremony will begin tomorrow at sunset." With that the Elders and family began to file out of the gathering room leaving Gracia alone. Gracia's mother stopped at the door leading out and turned back to look at her daughter. She looked very similar to her Gracia. Gracia looked back at her mother.

"I'm proud of you." She said. "Your father would be proud too." A sad smile crossed Mona's face.

"Thanks Mom." Gracia said. Mona turned and left knowing that her daughter wasn't one who was fond of being coddled, but she always let her know that she was there to support her.

As soon as her mother was gone, Gracia slumped down into one of the chairs. Being silent through the whole funeral Gracia finally began sobbing.

* * *

About a week later, Elder Nestor returned to his temple. He sat in the study going over some papers regarding the Banished Elders. He looked up when the sound of footsteps came from the hall. It was a Peace Keeper with a lean build. He was clad in light armor and had a short sword at his side. 

"Sgt. Dustin, what can I do for you?" Nestor asked.

"Elder Titan sent me. He says that all reported Earth dragons have been contained. Now all that's left to do is to figure out a way to send them home." The young dragon said. Elder Nestor knew that this was another issue that had to be taken care of. The only problem is that the barrier was closed now. Would it be possible to send the dragons back? Since there was a portal linking Avalar to the dragon world even though there were barriers around them, then it could be possible to make a portal that lead to Earth.

"Alright, I'll get started organizing those needed to help send the Earth dragons back home." Nestor replied. Dustin gave a quick bow before he turned and left.

* * *

Four Dream Weavers sat in a circle around a young dragon. The Weaver's eyes stared blankly at nothing as their minds entered the one of the young dragon in front of them. They searched and read through the thoughts, dreams and memories of the sleeping young dragon. If the young dragon's mind were a blanket it would be a blue, torn, and tattered one. Once the Weavers finished mapping out Shadow's mind-blanket they inserted their dream-magic into the blanket like a needle into fabric. Slowly they began to sew the ripped pieces of the blanket back together. The spots that they were able to find were weaved back in, in the same blue color. Some spots, however, they couldn't recover immediately, so the thread ran white. 

Shadow slept unaware of the repairs being made to his mind. Slowly things were coming back to him in his dreams, memories that he had forgotten because of the dark magic's negative effects. There were many people that he re-met in his dreams. Some people he didn't remember, just blank faces from his past. Others held a more prominent meaning. The old faces of the Banished Elders appeared from time to time. He could remember each of them clearly enough. He remembered that it was Clenten that trained him the most. He remembered that Genus was always angry and that he stayed out of the old Peace Keeper's way. Gyra was always kind to him.

Shadow's dreams stretched farther back into his memories. The face of an old black dragon with piercing, ice blue eyes entered his mind. This dragon seemed very familiar. Shadow spent some time thinking of who this dragon could be, but his name escaped the young dragon like a dandelion seed on the wind. He remembered their last meeting during his battle with Spyro. He watched the old dragon as if he was some kind of spectator looking at a movie. He didn't feel like he was there in the middle of the memory, an out-of-body experience. He watched as the old dragon advanced toward him and raised his dark-light staff. The memory ended there.

Shadow's mind floated on through other memories as the Dream Weavers worked, being pulled along by their mind-threads. Shadow could remember other dragons as well, he felt he should remember them, but they were from long ago in his early childhood. They could've been his parents, or relatives. They might've been old friends. Shadow couldn't remember them. The mind-thread had run white.

It was a few more hours before the Dream Weavers' work was done. Carefully one of the dragons picked Shadow up and carried him to a containment cell in one of the smaller temples. There they would watch him to make sure that he recovered. The cell was fairly small, but clean. It had a bed in the right corner in the back and a table against the opposite wall. A small window was placed high near the ceiling. The Weaver placed Shadow on the bed and walked towards the door of the room. He stared back at Shadow for a few seconds. He had seen some disturbing things in that kid's mind. Silently the dragon walked out and closed the door behind him.

Shadow awoke with a start. His yellow eyes darted around the room as his mind scrambled to register where he was at. The pale light of the moon filtered in though the small window in the room casting a silver square on the floor. Shadow calmed down when he realized that he wasn't in any danger. In fact he was lying in a comfortable bed. The sweet scent of freshly cut fruit wafted through the room. Shadow spotted a bowl of cut melon the table on the other side of the room. Shadow realized how hungry he was and darted for the bowl ignoring his sleep stiffened limbs and proceeded to gulp down the fruit with a ravenous appetite. The melon didn't satisfy his immediately so it took a few moments before his belly realized that it was full. Shadow licked the juiced out the bottom of the bowl as his eyes scanned the room. It wasn't very big and there was only one door. The door had a small window in it for observers to look in. When Shadow was done with the bowl he placed it back on the table and made his way back to the bed. It was then he realized that his mind was now clear; clearer than it had been in weeks. He could clearly recall some memories and think straight. He no longer had that feral mindset stalking in the background waiting to take over, that beast the dark-shard had spawned. Shadow sat down on the bed and looked down at his forepaws. He wondered what happened to him, he wondered if it was all a dream. No, it was too real. He could remember Spyro's face when they first met in Cloud Temples. He could remember killing Gnorc. He could remember his previous master (before the Banished Elders took him in), that black dragon, and how he ripped the dark shard from his body. He remembered the pain he felt. He could barely remember being carried back to a balloon by these people around him. He assumed it was Spyro and his friends.

Shadow's mind wandered for a while before coming back to his master. He wondered why he took the shard from him. It must've had something to do with his unpredictable behavior. He then wondered why his master didn't come for him. He had no idea how many days passed since their last encounter. It could've been weeks for all he knew. Suddenly he remembered his master's name, Dark.

A sound jarred Shadow from his thoughts. A dragon was walking down the hall and stopped in front of his room.

"I see you're awake." The dragon said.

"What… what happened to me? Where am I?" Shadow asked. It was strange hearing his voice again. It was somehow different.

"You are in the Dream Weavers world. You were brought here on Spyro's request and we repaired your mind. So… what's your name young one?"

"My name's Shadow." Shadow replied.

"I see. How much do you remember?" The Dream Waver asked. Shadow thought hard for a moment. He felt that he could remember most things, but he wasn't sure if some things he forgot were due to normal memory loss or the dark-shard's affects.

"Enough I guess." He said after a few moments.

"Your memory may not be completely restored yet. That dark shard you had in you badly damaged your mind. You were pretty close to the point of being completely changed. Don't worry though. The mind-thread is designed to recall the memories that we weren't able to immediately fix. You see, you can't forget something once you remember it. It just may take a while for it to come back."

"You fixed my mind?" Shadow asked slightly disturbed at the thought of having someone poke around in his head.

"Yes. You're should be pretty much normal now. But we will have to keep you under observation for a while." Shadow was silent for a moment before he nodded his head.

"You should go back to sleep. You may find that you remember more in the morning." The Dream Weaver said before leaving. Shadow laid down on the bed and looked at the moon beams cast on the floor. There were still some important memories that he couldn't remember, he could feel it. Shadow closed his eyes and drifted back into a deep slumber.

* * *

A few more weeks passed. Spyro and his friends were all completely healed. Things had returned to relative normalcy and the thought of the Banished Elders was all but forgotten, except by the Elders. They still kept on high alert. With the Banished Elders still out there the world wasn't safe. As long as the inhabitants didn't get worked up into a panic then things would be alright. 

The Magic Crafters had discovered a way to send the Earth dragons back home. They found a way around the barrier to let the dragons through. They would then use portal magic to bridge the gap between the dragon world and Earth. They would have Dream Weavers go through the Earth dragons' minds to extract the information needed to send them back to as close to their home as possible. It would be a major task and it would take days to send them all home, but at least they could do it.

Elder Nestor stood on a hill overlooking the Earth dragons that had been sent to Stone Hill. There had to be at least two hundred of them. They were all of varying types from the classic European dragon to the Mexican amphithere. A particular dragon caught Nestor's eye. The slender aqua green seemed to stand out from the more neutral colors of the other dragons. Elder Nestor glided down to meet the young dragon.

"Well Rali, I see that you've made it."

"Yes." The Chinese dragon replied. Spyro, Flame, and Ember stepped out from behind Rali and greeted the Elder.

Preparations for the transporting carried on long into the night. Rali and his friends had shuffled off into a corner of the large town square waiting for Rali's turn. The Dream Weavers had been busy extracting memories of the dragons' home lands and giving them to the Crafters who had constructed a super portal. The portal was in the middle of the square. Each dragon was walked up to it and had their memories read. Then the Crafters would change the portals landing point to where ever the memories directed.

Rali had dozed off a couple of times, and each time he awoke there were less and less dragons than he remembered. Then the dragon transporting stopped for the night in order for the Weavers and Crafters to get some rest, but they began again early the next morning.

Rali grew more and more excited as he felt that his turn was approaching and fast. The thought of seeing his parents and his home again nearly made his heart burst. Spyro, Ember, and Flame just sat back and watched as Rali stared at the large portal. With each dragon that went in his time with them grew shorter and shorter. Before long Rali was in line himself and only four dragons stood between him and his home. But then something made him hesitant. Rali looked back solemnly at Spyro, then Flame, and lastly Ember. The three sat quietly off to the side watching him. Rali then turned his head towards Elder Nestor who was off attending to other matters.

Now only two dragons separated him from his home then one, then it was his turn. The Weaver that was stationed at the portal was about to read Rali's mind but the Chinese dragon stopped him.

"I want to say goodbye to my friends really fast first." Rali said. The Weaver didn't have time to react before Rali bounded away from the portal towards his friends.

"What's wrong Rali?" Ember asked confused as to why he turned away from the portal.

"I wanted to say goodbye, and that I was glad that you all were with me." He said sadly.

"It was a pleasure to meet you too." Spyro said. Without warning Rali wrapped his tail around the three smaller dragons and gave them a hug of sorts before giving them each a sloppy wet lick on the forehead.

"Aww Rali! Cut it out!" Flame protested. Unwillingly Rali let them go and then bounded back to the transportation line. He had lost his spot and had to wait again, but it wasn't long before it was his turn again.

"You ready to go home now kid?" The Weaver asked in a gruff voice. Rali was silent for a few moments. He could feel a lump forming in his throat and it was a major task to not start crying. Something deep in his heart told him that he'd never see his friends here again; Earth didn't have any portals so he couldn't come back.

"Yes, yes I am." Rali said past the lump in his throat. With that the Weaver placed a hand on Rali's head and accessed thoughts of the Chinese dragon's home. It only took a few seconds for the memories to be read and then transferred to the portal. The portal flashed a white color before it turned to the lush mountains of China's highlands. It seemed unfamiliar at first, but quickly Rali recognized the dark spot on one of the mountains, it was his home cave. With a quick look back at Spyro, Ember, and Flame, Rali leapt forward into the living picture crossing the dragon universe back to his own.

Two serpentine figures moved around in the darkness of the cave. The sunlight didn't reach this far back into it. One figure raised his head and gazed sadly out towards the cave entrance. The second opened her eyes to look at her mate.

"Is everything alright?" She asked.

"Yeah," The male said. "I just had a dream about Rali, that's all." The female could hear the pain in her mate's voice. The loss of their only son had greatly affected them both. They never really recovered. The female curled her tail around her mate in an attempt to comfort him, but her heart was just as pained.

Without warning a sudden glow appeared in the cave. The startled dragons stared in shock at the glow as it grew bigger and bigger until it was blinding. When the glow died down and the dragons opened their eyes there was an aqua green dragon standing before them. The other dragon's scent was immediately recognized by the pair. They still stared for a few moments longer their minds trying to register what just happened.

"Mom… Dad?" The young dragon said. Without hesitation Rali's parents rushed towards him and scooped him up in their tails embracing their son.

"Oh Ralicamur, we thought you had left us forever." The mother said close to tears. The father said nothing as he nuzzled his son.

"But, I'm back now." He said his body almost shaking with excitement and happiness. Something glowing around Rali's neck caught his father's attention.

"What's this?" He asked nosing the necklace.

"It was a gift from these magicians." Rali said looking down at the orb-pendant. He had never taken it off since it was given to him by the Temples people.

"What happened to you?" Rali's mother asked. Rali was silent for a few seconds as he drew in a breath to begin telling the story of his adventure.

* * *

Genus stomped back and forth along one of the wooden platforms in the swamp. His face was creased with anger and impatience. Menga still hadn't shown up and Dark had stopped Shadow from killing Spyro. The thought of Dark infuriated him, but he managed to keep himself from decimating the nearest object. He couldn't fathom why Dark wanted Spyro to live or if he had done it for the purple dragon's sake at all. Perhaps Dark wanted their plan to fail, but why. He also couldn't figure out why Dark appeared so suddenly after all of these years. There were still many pieces of the puzzle that were missing. The fact that Shadow had come to them with immense dark magic powers and that he tore Avalar's barrier didn't make any sense at all. Genus growled to himself as he tried to make everything fit. Genus stopped pacing and looked down at the super-gem shard that hung from a silver chain around his neck. He had claimed his own piece of the super-gem and his own youth was restored as well. He and the others had found out that if they let go of the gem its effects would dissipate and they would rapidly return to their former state. 

The sound of wing flaps alerted Genus. He looked up to see that Clenten and Gyra were returning. They landed on the wooden platform near Genus.

"Well?" He asked.

"We found him." Gyra said.

"Where is he?" Genus asked.

"He's on the southern part of the island."

"Why didn't he come with you?" Genus continued to drill Gyra with questions.

"He says he'll be here, but when he's ready to come. You know how Beast Makers can be." Gyra said. Genus's pent up anger exploded and he obliterated a nearby tree with a powerful fire blast. Genus took off and flew towards the southern coast. This was not the time to be playing games Genus thought.

"Why do you think he's like that?" Clenten questioned. The smallest thing would set Genus off.

"I have no idea why." Gyra answered. She watched as the Peace Keeper became nothing more than a sand colored dot in the sky.

* * *

Spyro laid in the lush grass of the Artisan home-world taking in the sun's warming rays. He looked up at the sky and the clouds drifting lazily along. Sometimes he wished he was a cloud. 

Flame and Ember had returned to their own home in the Dragon Kingdom a day after Rali left. Spyro missed them, but he missed Rali most of all since he would never see him again. He hoped that he made it home alright and that he got to see his parents. Spyro suddenly thought that he didn't even know his own parents. Spyro sighed.

"Sparx?" Spyro asked.

"Yeah?" The dragonfly replied.

"Do you think the Banished Elders are going to attack us? They have the super-gem. But nothing of them has turned up since they killed Cosmos."

"I dunno Spyro. Only time will tell I guess." The thought of the Banished Elders caused anger to well up inside of Spyro. They had to be stopped no matter the cost and be put to justice, but he had no idea where to look for them. Even if he did and confronted them himself it would be suicide. If they could kill an Elder then he knew that he wouldn't stand a chance. Spyro decided that the only thing he could do now was to enjoy the momentary peace as he knew it wouldn't last forever.

**A/N: THE END.**

**What? You're still here? Go on, get out! Nothing more to see here!**

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**Oh alright. Yeah that was kind of a cliffhanger wasn't it? Yes I will be making a sequel to this, but no telling when. I am pretty random with this kind of stuff, but since it's summer break now it could be pretty soon. ;D More questions will be answered and destinies will be fulfilled, an epic adventure will ensue and yadda, yadda, yadda. You know the drill. There might even be some romance! wink wink, nudge nudge No tellin' who's got the love bug though, that would spoil some things. But I'm sure your minds are already churning about the possibilities.**

**Anyway thank you all for reading my story. It's changed quite a lot since I very first began writing it. Of course I sucked at writing back then so this story has gone through quite a few rewritings from the ground up. I'll be going back and making revisions (mostly grammatical stuff) so that things flow easier and make more sense. I gotta tell ya coming up with the Banished Elders' plan and making everything fit into what's been set down by the games and my own plot is a lot harder than I thought. I go back over something only to find that the continuity is screwed up. :P **

**Enough of that; I hope you like the next installment as it'll be even greater than this one! I just gotta think of a good title! Super Spyro Adventure! No that's really dumb…. Evil Attack: The Banished Elder's Strike Back! Ha! Yeah right! How about… Dark Reign? Yeah… that sounds cool:)**

**See ya till then! **


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